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RECAP
PHOENIX (AP) -- His 20-strikeout game was a masterpiece. This one
was just old-fashioned hard work.
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Most K's -- Consecutive Games
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K. Wood
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1998
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33
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R. Johnson
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2001
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32*
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P. Martinez
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2000
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32
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P. Martinez
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1999
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32
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R. Johnson
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1997
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32
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D. Gooden
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1984
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32
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N. Ryan
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1974
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32
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L. Tiant
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1968
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32*
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*--includes extra inning game
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Randy Johnson struck out 12 in an exhausting eight innings
Sunday as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies
6-1.
"I was running on fumes from about the sixth inning on," he
said.
Johnson, who threw a season-high 146 pitches in his first outing
since he struck out 20 against Cincinnati on Tuesday, fell a
strikeout short of Kerry Wood's record of 33 in consecutive games.
"He was not as dominating as he was the last time out, which
for me made this performance almost as impressive," Arizona
manager Bob Brenly said. "It's one thing to go out there and have
all your pitches working well, and you're hitting all your spots.
It's another thing to go out there and really battle the way he
battled today."
The Big Unit did earn a share of the major league record for
strikeouts in consecutive starts involving an extra-inning game.
Even had he fanned 13 Sunday, he wouldn't have officially tied Wood
because Tuesday's game went into extra innings, even though Johnson
didn't.
Mark Grace hit a grand slam off Ricky Bottalico in the eighth
inning, his third career slam and first with Arizona. Reggie
Sanders hit his third two-run homer in two games for the
Diamondbacks, off starter Robert Person.
Johnson (4-3) allowed four hits, walked four and hit a batter. He
tied the record set by Luis Tiant of Cleveland, who struck out 13
on June 29, 1968, and 19 in a 19-inning game July 3, 1968.
"It was a long game," Johnson said. "I had to battle. It was
a night and day game from the other night."
Person (3-4) was thrown out of the game by home plate umpire
Jerry Meals after hitting Sanders in the back with a pitch with two
outs and none on in the sixth.
"I don't think there's a doubt in anybody's mind it was done
intentionally, as much as they would like to argue the other side
of that," Brenly said.
But Person and manager Larry Bowa said there was no way the
Phillies would be throwing at anybody in that situation.
"Why is a guy going to hit a guy on purpose in a 2-1 game?"
Bowa said. "It makes no sense."
Person said he'd struggled with his control all day.
"I don't care what it looked like, there was no intent,"
Person said. "I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not Greg Maddux.
I can't throw the ball where I want it every time. And, you know,
Randy's pitching. I'm not going to try to get somebody killed."
Both dugouts and bullpens cleared, but it was mostly shouting
and a little shoving.
"It might have been something this team needed," Grace said.
"We'd been a little lackluster really this whole homestand. You
can rally around each other like that, and I guarantee you that
Reggie feels good we came out there for him."
Brenly said he told Johnson and the rest of the Diamondbacks
that there would be no retaliation.
Johnson struck out Scott Rolen to tie Tiant's record for the
second out in the eighth. He walked Pat Burrell on a 3-2 count, and
manager Bob Brenly came out to talk to his ace. Johnson stayed in
the game, but Kevin Jordan grounded out to end the inning. Closer Bret Prinz pitched the ninth.
Johnson hit double-digits in strikeouts for the seventh
consecutive game, the longest such streak of his career.
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the second when Brian Hunter led
off with a single, stole second, then scored on Tomas Perez's
two-out double. Hunter was just 2-for-18 against Johnson going into
the game.
Johnson didn't allow another hit until Gary Bennett led off the
seventh with a single.
Phillies reliever Wayne Gomes walked the first two batters in
the eighth, then Luis Gonzalez singled to load the bases. Bottalico
relieved Gomes and struck out Matt Williams before giving up
Grace's homer.
"I wasn't thinking grand slam," Grace said. "He hung a
breaking ball. I can still hit those."
Game notes
C Mike Lieberthal, who injured his right knee in Saturday
night's game, will undergo an MRI on Monday in Philadelphia to
determine the extent of the injury, but he likely will be out for
at least four weeks. ... Johnny Estrada was called up from Triple-A
Scranton and will be the Phillies everyday catcher while Lieberthal
is out, but Bowa decided not to have Estrada make his big-league
debut against Johnson after an all-night flight. ... 3B Williams
committed his third error in as many games. ... Sanders' 11 homers
equals his total of all of last season. ... Philadelphia was 4-2 on
its road trip.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 5
Oakland 4
Tampa Bay 7
Cleveland 0
Anaheim 14
Detroit 2
Baltimore 10
NY Yankees 5
Seattle 7
Toronto 5
Chi. White Sox 6
Texas 3
Minnesota 7
Kansas City 3
Milwaukee 4
Pittsburgh 1
St. Louis 13
Chicago Cubs 4
Montreal 14
Colorado 10
San Francisco 6
NY Mets 3
Los Angeles 3
Atlanta 1
Arizona 6
Philadelphia 1
Florida 10
San Diego 4
Houston 4
Cincinnati 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Diamondbacks' manager Bob Brenly was more concerned with winning then getting even.
wav: 80 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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