Brown Wins This Showdown

Their opening-day showdown failed to meet expectations and the high-priced, hard-throwing pitchers wound up with a draw.

Kevin Brown earned the close decision this time.

The Dodger ace outdueled left-hander Randy Johnson during a 2-1 victory Sunday night, defeating his Arizona Diamondback counterpart in the marquee matchup at Bank One Ballpark.

Brown (11-6) gave up only three hits and an unearned run in eight strong innings. First baseman Eric Karros provided the winning margin with a sixth-inning solo home run that moved him among elite company in Los Angeles franchise history, and second baseman Jose Vizcaino made two key defensive plays to atone for an error that helped the Diamondbacks score their run.

One of those plays helped closer Jeff Shaw pitch a perfect ninth and earn his 21st save. Brown’s sharp 121-pitch outing, Shaw’s quick work in the ninth and the contributions by Karros and Vizcaino enabled the Dodgers to win the final game of the three-game series after losing the first two.

Johnson (10-8) also had his moments, striking out 11 in seven-plus innings. However, the Diamondbacks again failed to provide him with much support, continuing a frustrating trend for Johnson and his teammates.

Brown and Johnson had no-decisions in the Dodgers’ 8-6, 11-inning victory over the Diamondbacks in the season opener at Dodger Stadium.

“You know it’s going to be a tough matchup, you know you’re going to have a tough game, when you’re facing Randy,” said Brown, who is to 1-2 with two no-decisions in five regular-season starts against Johnson.

“I think it was a mixture of things for me tonight. I moved the ball around, I mixed it up. I got popups to people instead of balls falling in. It makes a difference when balls are hit to people instead of falling in all over the place or into the gaps.”

That’s for sure.

Brown felt as if he was jinxed while going winless in four starts from June 30 through July 15. Brown exorcised some demons in an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, and the magic appeared to be with him again against the National League West leaders.

Brown struck out seven and walked three. The Diamondbacks (54-46) struggled to reach base against Brown, who was definitely on his game.

“Brownie was awful good,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “I really liked the way he was throwing. I always like the way he throws, but he really made some great pitches tonight. Guys who normally give him trouble, he handled quite easily. Viz made some great plays, and E.K. hit that big home run.”

The score was tied at 1-1 when Karros led off the sixth against Johnson. Johnson threw Karros a 1-and-2 fastball, and the ball landed over the fence in right field.

Karros’ 23rd homer gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead that Brown and Shaw preserved for the last-place team (44-54). Moreover, the homer marked the 200th in Karros’ eight-year career, making him only the third Los Angeles Dodger to hit that many.

Ron Cey is the all-time L.A. leader with 228. Steve Garvey is second on the list with 211.

“Sometime when my career is over, I’m sure I’ll think about those sort of things,” Karros said. “But right now, that’s the furthest thing from my mind. There is so much other [stuff] going on around here, I don’t have time to think about anything else.”

Karros’ tie-breaking blast occurred after the Diamondbacks tied the score at 1-1 in the fifth with the help of a throwing error by Vizcaino. But the usually sure-handed fielder rebounded, starting a key double play in the sixth and robbing Travis Lee of a single in the ninth.

“I made two good plays, but they tied the score with that run when I made the error,” Vizcaino said. “After that [the error], I just hoped every ball was hit to me. I just wanted to prove I was a good defensive player, and I wanted to help the team.”