Johnson Strikes Out 11 in Victory

Randy Johnson opened the game by striking out Freddy Sanchez on three pitches. Then he struck out Matt Lawton on three pitches.

While he didn’t throw a no-hitter, Johnson pitched his finest game with the New York Yankees.

He reached double digits in strikeouts for the first time this year and threw a five-hitter Thursday night, leading the Yankees to a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates that completed a three-game sweep at New York.

“He was great!” Yankee owner George Steinbrenner said.

With perhaps his sharpest slider of the season, Johnson threw his first 13 pitches for strikes and 20 of his opening 21.

He went to 0-2 counts on 10 of his first 18 batters and finished with 11 strikeouts and no walks.

“Most of you guys have written my eulogy the last month,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m not done. I’ve got a lot of fire in me.”

Johnson (7-5) won consecutive starts for only the second time this year, lowered his earned-run average to 3.51 and had his 205th double-digit strikeout game, 10 shy of Nolan Ryan’s record. He got his 253rd win, tying Carl Hubbell for 40th on the career list.

“At times I felt really good with my mechanics in April. In May, I felt good at times,” Johnson said. “Things just get blown out of proportion here. You give up a couple of runs and you lose 3-1 or something, the world’s coming to an end.”

Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer in the first off Oliver Perez (5-5), and New York made it 4-0 in the second when Jason Giambi hit an RBI double and scored on Robinson Cano’s single.

Gary Sheffield added a bloop, two-run double in the fourth.

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Detroit 3, San Diego 1 -- Jeremy Bonderman gave up a leadoff home run to Dave Roberts but little else, pitching seven strong innings of four-hit ball in leading the Tigers to a three-game sweep of the Padres at Detroit.

Chris Shelton hit his first home run of the season and added an RBI single for the Tigers.

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N.Y. Mets 9, Oakland 6 -- Mike Piazza ended his longest home run drought, Carlos Beltran hit a three-run shot and the Mets avoided a three-game sweep at Oakland.

Piazza connected in the seventh, his first home run in 99 at-bats, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Kris Benson (5-2) won his second straight decision despite giving up two home runs.

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Cleveland 2, Colorado 1 -- Kevin Millwood got his 100th career victory and the Indians pushed their winning streak to a season-high six games with a three-game sweep of the Rockies at Cleveland.

Millwood (2-4) pitched five shutout innings in his first start since May 25 when he pulled a groin muscle. The right-hander gave up four hits before being pulled after 85 pitches.

Grady Sizemore and Coco Crisp had RBIs for Cleveland.

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San Francisco 14, Minnesota 7 -- Omar Vizquel’s fifth hit drove in the tying run in the eighth inning and Pedro Feliz’s two-run single capped a seven-run ninth that lifted the Giants past the Twins at Minneapolis.

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Philadelphia 3, Seattle 2 -- Jimmy Rollins tripled with one out in the 13th inning for his fifth hit then scored on Tomas Perez’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly to help the Phillies avoid a three-game sweep at Seattle.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

Atlanta 5, Cincinnati 2 -- John Smoltz (6-5) won for the third time in his last four starts, striking out nine Reds in the Braves’ victory at Cincinnati. Rafael Furcal and Marcus Giles homered for Atlanta.

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Lou Piniella’s agent met with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to discuss the manager’s concerns about the direction of the last-place franchise. General Manager Chuck LaMar, who confirmed the meeting with Alan Nero but did not elaborate, said earlier this week that there had been no talks about buying out Piniella’s contract, which runs through 2006.... The Braves put right-hander Tim Hudson on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained muscle in his left side.