Johnson Gets Left in the Dust Again

By TEDDY GREENSTEIN

Oct. 11, 2001 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PHOENIX —

If Randy Johnson didn’t realize it before Wednesday, he certainly does now: Life isn’t always fair.

Johnson’s detractors can always point to his postseason record, which fell to 2-7 after the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that evened the National League division series at 1-1.

Johnson would prefer that fans and reporters look at his postseason earned-run average, which is a respectable 3.67. But he knows that more will focus on his seven consecutive postseason losses, a major league record.

“If someone’s to blame, I guess I am because I gave up the three runs,” Johnson said. “I’m here to take whatever you guys want to say. It seems I’ve been in this position behind a microphone every year.”

Johnson paused.

“Last year [losing to the New York Mets] was tough because I don’t think I gave us a chance to win. This time I did. But Woody Williams pitched better. He shut our offense down.”

Williams, in his first career postseason appearance, continued his remarkable run since being traded from San Diego to St. Louis on Aug. 2. Williams improved to 8-1 with a 2.20 ERA in a Cardinal uniform and 6-0 with an ERA of 0.96 since Aug. 31.

The 35-year-old right-hander, who had to clear waivers for the deal to be completed, went 8-8 with a 4.97 ERA for the Padres.

Teammates and Manager Tony La Russa speak of Williams’ off-the-charts resolve.

“He has no fear and he’s a dead-game competitor,” La Russa said. “Yeah, we were aware of Randy Johnson, but based on what we had seen for two months, we thought Woody would give us a chance to win.”

Williams gave up only four hits--all singles--and issued one walk while striking out nine batters over seven innings. He threw 133 pitches and fought off a slightly strained right groin. If that wasn’t enough, he singled and scored in the third.

Williams attributes his improvement to his work with pitching coach Dave Duncan and the Cardinals’ defense. If he has a secret beyond that, he’s not telling.

“I think the main thing has been being able to spot my fastball,” said Williams, who throws only in the high 80s. “I consider myself a fastball pitcher, believe it or not, even though I don’t have the radar readings of those other guys.”

Johnson has more heat but couldn’t use it to subdue the Cardinals in the first. After Johnson walked Edgar Renteria on a 3-2 pitch, the 6-foot-10 left-hander tried to jam Albert Pujols on a 3-2 fastball.

But Johnson left the ball over the plate, and Pujols drove it down the right-field line into the Cardinals’ bullpen. The Bank One Ballpark crowd of 41,973--more than 7,000 short of capacity--sat in stunned silence.

“I didn’t try to overpower the pitch,” said Pujols, who had one of the best rookie seasons in big league history. “I just trusted my hands and did the best I could with it.”

Said Johnson: “Strong kid, Albert Pujols. Bad location. A game like this is under the microscope. You have no room to make errors. I’ve watched some of the postseason games and they’ve all been [about] pitching.”

That truism makes St. Louis the favorite the rest of the way. The Cardinals will start 16-game winner Darryl Kile in Game 3 Friday against Arizona’s Miguel Batista, who has pitched for five teams since 1996.

Diamondback Manager Bob Brenly used Batista in the ninth inning Wednesday but treated the session as his side day and said, “he’s good to go.”

Brenly has more pressing concerns. His lineup has produced two runs in two games, with MVP candidate Luis Gonzalez 0 for 8 and leadoff hitter Tony Womack reaching base only one time.

“I can [explain] it in a couple of words: Matt Morris and Woody Williams,” Brenly said. “Our guys aren’t trying to make outs. But both pitchers, whenever they’ve gotten in trouble, were able to come up with their best pitches.”

Johnson wishes he could have done the same.

Teddy Greenstein is a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NL PLAYOFFS

Division series; best of five

ARIZONA VS. ST. LOUIS

Game 2

St. Louis 4, Arizona 1

Series tied, 1-1

Game 3--Friday

at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m., Fox Family

Starters--Diamondback RH Miguel Batista (11-8, 3.36) vs. Cardinal RH Darryl Kile (16-11)