Johnson Turns Up Heat on Marlins

Almost every outing, Randy Johnson finds himself mentioned in the same sentence as pitchers enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Johnson fanned 14, passing Tom Seaver for fifth place on the career strikeout list, as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins, 9-2, Saturday at Phoenix.

“He’s up there with the best strikeout pitchers in the history of the game,” said Marlin Manager Jeff Torborg, who caught three no-hitters as a player. “He doesn’t compare with the guys that I caught relative to where he throws from. Sandy [Koufax] was over the top. Don Drysdale was from the side, but he was right-handed.

“This guy is kind of unique.”

Johnson (17-4), who pitched complete games in his last two starts, went eight innings this time. He gave up two runs, five hits and two walks in his fourth consecutive victory--a stretch in which he has an 0.82 earned-run average in 33 innings.

“He hit 100 [mph] once on our gun today, and 99 six or seven times,” Manager Bob Brenly said. “When he’s got that slider working and that kind of fastball, it’s going to be a tough day for whoever.”

Johnson finished the afternoon with a major-league leading 240 strikeouts this season--10 more than teammate Curt Schilling, who pitches today.

The Big Unit moved past Schilling by striking out five in the first two innings. His third of the game--against Preston Wilson for the first out of the second--was No. 3,641 and sent him ahead of Seaver. Johnson ended the day with 3,652 career strikeouts.

“The end of last year, the company that I was in was pretty incredible,” Johnson said. “I was kind of in awe of the whole situation. But to be in the company that I’m in now--to have seen these other pitchers play, to have met these other pitchers like Don Sutton, Tom Seaver--means a lot.”

Houston 8, Atlanta 5--Rookie Kirk Saarloos won his fifth consecutive start and slumping Lance Berkman returned to the lineup and drove in two runs as the Astros won at Houston.

The largest crowd of the season in Houston--43,332--saw the Astros send the NL East leaders to only their third loss in 12 games.

Saarloos (5-2) went 5 2/3 innings and gave up five runs and seven hits. He is now 5-0 with an ERA of 2.90 in five starts since being recalled from triple A on July 20.

St. Louis 5, New York 4--Albert Pujols hit a grand slam and the Cardinals won at St. Louis for only their second victory in 10 games.

Pujols connected in the first inning for his second slam of the season.

After the Mets came back to tie the score, the NL Central leaders scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Jim Edmonds.

Cincinnati 9, San Diego 0--Ryan Dempster escaped two bases-loaded threats during a make-or-break start at Cincinnati, and Jason LaRue homered and drove in three runs to lead the Reds.

Cincinnati got Dempster (7-11) from Florida on July 11, but he pitched so poorly in his first five starts--1-3 with an ERA of 11.74--that he was in danger of losing his spot in the rotation with one more bad showing.

He saved himself by giving up only four hits and four walks in six innings.

Milwaukee 5, Montreal 2--Jose Cabrera pitched six solid innings, and Eric Young had four hits at Milwaukee as the Brewers ended a five-game losing streak against the Expos.