Another Shutout for Johnson

A crowd of 40,217 at the Astrodome--including Nolan Ryan sitting behind home plate in club owner Drayton McLane’s box--saw Randy Johnson pitch his second successive shutout, striking out 13, as the Astros the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0, Wednesday night.

Johnson (3-0) also got his first major league RBI in leading the Astros to their sixth consecutive victory.

Making his third start since Houston got him in a trade with Seattle, Johnson gave up five hits in lowering his earned-run average to 0.72 for the Astros.

Johnson’s 13 strikeouts were the most by an Astro pitcher this season. He also tied Sandy Koufax for second place on the lifetime list for 10-plus strikeout games with 97. Ryan leads with 215.

“I saw [Ryan] on the big screen and his wife, Ruth. It was a pleasant surprise,” Johnson said. “He means a great deal to my success.

“He helped me when he was with the Texas Rangers. Nolan Ryan didn’t have to take time to help me, but he did. In 1993, I worked on my mechanics with him and [former Texas pitching coach] Tom House.”

Johnson struck out the side twice and fanned Jeff Cirillo for his 13th strikeout to start the ninth inning.

In the sixth he earned a standing ovation when he hit a full-count pitch from reliever Eric Plunk into right-center field for a single that scored Richard Hidalgo from third base. It was Johnson’s third major league hit.

Chicago 10, San Francisco 2--Sammy Sosa failed to hit a homer for the second day in a row, so Henry Rodriguez and a couple of other Cubs took care of the power at San Francisco.

Rodriguez drove in five runs with two home runs, and Scott Servais and Jeff Blauser also homered.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the fourth and added a three-run blast, his 30th of the season, into the upper deck in right field in the seventh.

Pittsburgh 5, Cincinnati 4--Jason Schmidt won for the first time since June 1 and Jason Kendall homered and drove in three runs as the Pirates withstood the Reds’ four-run rally at Cincinnati.

A day after Francisco Cordova shut out the Reds on six hits, Schmidt almost gave the Pirates consecutive shutouts for the first time since Doug Drabek and Zane Smith did it against St. Louis midway through the 1992 season.

Schmidt (9-9) gave up six hits and left with a 5-0 lead after a single and walk to start the ninth inning.

Colorado 3, Montreal 2--Vinny Castilla hit his 36th homer, a three-run shot that enabled the Rockies to complete a three-game sweep of the Expos at Coors Field.

Castilla, who drove in four runs Tuesday night, homered for the first time in 15 games and 54 at-bats. Colorado managed only six hits.

St. Louis 5, New York 4--After blowing a three-run lead in the ninth, the Cardinals came back and beat the Mets on Ray Lankford’s RBI single in the bottom of the 14th inning.

Lankford’s one-out line drive up the middle off John Franco (0-7) drove in Brian Jordan. Lankford’s third hit of the game came after left fielder Tony Phillips dropped his foul fly just before running into the wall.

Mark McGwire failed to homer, but drove in two runs for the Cardinals.

Philadelphia 7, Arizona 4--Bob Abreu wrapped up a big series with two hits, including a bases-loaded double, and Mark Parent drove in three runs at Phoenix.

Abreu had his third consecutive two for four night as the Phillies won two of three. They had been in a slide in which they had lost 10 of 11.