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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) – More than anything else, Bob Brenly seemed
relieved after managing his first major league game.
Of course, he was delighted his Arizona Diamondbacks were
victorious.
|  | | Randy Johnson improved to 4-0 in season-opening starts. He threw 132 pitches in seven innings and struck out 10. |
Randy Johnson allowed two runs in seven innings while striking
out 10, and Luis Gonzalez hit a two-run homer Tuesday night as the
Diamondbacks opened their season with a 3-2 victory over the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
"That was three hours, 14 minutes of exciting baseball,"
Brenly said. "It would have been nice to get a few more runs and a
little bit of breathing room, but a win's a win."
The Diamondbacks had 12 hits off four Los Angeles pitchers and
stranded 12 baserunners.
When asked if he was nervous, the former catcher and broadcaster
replied with a smile, "Not anymore."
Shortstop Tony Womack, who caught Marquis Grissom's popup to end
the game, gave Brenly the ball, and it rested on the manager's desk
as he spoke with reporters.
"I'll find some place for it," Brenly said. "I really have no
memorabilia on display in my house. I'll start with the ball, this
one is extra special."
Jose Nunez, the third Dodgers pitcher, was stung in his big
league debut, allowing a double to Mark Grace to start the seventh
before Gonzalez hit a 2-2 pitch to put the Diamondbacks ahead 3-2.
Nunez then retired the next three batters, but the damage was
done.
"He buckled me on two curveballs, I barely nicked another
one," Gonzalez said. "Common sense said he was going to throw me
another one. He left it up and over the plate."
Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said the 22-year-old Nunez was "one
pitch away from doing a fabulous job."
"For a young kid going out there for his first time, I thought
he did fine," Tracy said. "I admire him for the effort that he
gave. He showed us a lot of things tonight that we were certain of
in spring training. He threw nothing but strikes, and in my
opinion, that's a very good sign."
Johnson, who won the NL Cy Young Award the last two seasons,
improved his career record to 180-95 including 4-0 in
season-opening games.
Making his ninth opening-day start, he allowed four hits and
four walks and hit a batter before being lifted for a pinch hitter
in the eighth. He threw 132 pitches _ 83 for strikes.
Byung-Hyun Kim and Matt Mantei each pitched a scoreless inning,
with Mantei working the ninth for a save.
Johnson has 149 double-figure strikeout performances, the
second-highest total in major league history. Hall of Famer Nolan
Ryan had 215.
"For the first start, I was fairly pleased," Johnson said.
"The walks ended up costing me. I'd like to say it's
uncharacteristic of me, but it's still early."
Paul LoDuca drove in the Los Angeles runs in the fourth, hitting
a two-run double to left-center after Johnson issued one-out walks
to Shawn Green and Jeff Reboulet.
Womack led off with an infield hit off Eric Gagne, and later
scored on a two-out single by Matt Williams. Right fielder Green
then leaned into the seats to take a two-run homer away from Steve
Finley.
Constantly pitching into and then out of trouble, Gagne
scattered seven hits while walking two and striking out six in five
innings.
One day after a sellout crowd of 53,154 attended the Dodgers'
1-0 season-opening victory over Milwaukee, the announced attendance
was only 22,927.
Game notes
Ross Newhan, the Los Angeles Times' national baseball
columnist, was honored before the game. Newhan was elected into the
writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and will be inducted at
Cooperstown, N.Y., in August. ... The Diamondbacks, who began play
as an expansion team in 1998, are 2-2 in season-openers. ... Brenly
said he will probably frame the lineup card from the opener and
save it for his son, Mike. "He's 14 right now, and he really
thinks this is the neatest thing in the world, so it would be
something nice for him to hang on his office wall someday,"
Brenley said. ... The Diamondbacks placed Danny Klassen, who has a
stress fracture in his right foot, on the 15-day disabled list
before the game, and recalled Erubiel Durazo from Triple-A Tucson
of the PCL. ... Arizona catcher Damian Miller threw out runners
trying to steal second to end the first and seventh innings.
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RECAPS
Minnesota 3
Detroit 2
Texas 3
Anaheim 2
Tampa Bay 8
Toronto 1
Oakland 5
Seattle 1
NY Mets 6
Atlanta 4
Houston 11
Milwaukee 3
Cincinnati 3
Pittsburgh 2
Philadelphia 4
Florida 3
Arizona 3
Los Angeles 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Luis Gonzalez came up big on Opening Day with a two-run homer.
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