Sexson hit Bank One-record 503-foot HR

PHOENIX (AP) -- Richie Sexson's awesome power and Randy Johnson's

ageless arm were more than enough to snap the Chicago Cubs'

six-game winning streak.

Sexson hit the longest home run in Bank One Ballpark history and

Johnson struck out 10 on Monday night, leading the Arizona

Diamondbacks to a 9-0 rout.

Sexson's two-run shot off reliever Francis Beltran in the sixth

inning traveled an estimated 503 feet and smacked off his own image

halfway up the giant video screen in center field, smashing several

lights.

"That's the furthest one I've ever hit. I'd be lying if I said

it wasn't," Sexson said. "I've seen Jim Thome hit some balls like

that, but I never have."

It was Sexson's 200th career home run and ninth this season.

"You see things in this game on occasion that you've never seen

before," Arizona manager Bob Brenly said. "I think Fins (Steve

Finley) said it best, he's never seen a ball get so small so fast.

It seemed like it was accelerating when it hit him in the face out

there on the JumboTron."

Previously, the longest homer at the 7-year-old park was 473

feet by Scott Rolen, then with Philadelphia, against Omar Daal on

April 19, 1999.

"The people here are going to enjoy watching Richie Sexson all

year long," Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. "I'm just glad he's

not in Milwaukee anymore."

The 40-year-old Johnson (2-2), 18 years older than Cubs starter

Carlos Zambrano, improved to 12-0 in 13 career starts against the

Cubs. Johnson struck out seven of nine batters during one stretch,

pitched two-hit ball for seven innings and walked none.

He even had an RBI single as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth

time in five games.

"I'm sure he could have finished that game very easily,"

Brenly said, "but we saved him a few innings there and hopefully

we can tack those on in September."

The Big Unit gave up a single to Zambrano with one out in the

third, then retired 12 straight before Moises Alou singled with one

out in the seventh. The only other Cub to reach base against

Johnson was Derrek Lee, hit by a pitch with two outs in the second.

Seven consecutive Chicago outs were by strikeout, beginning when

Sammy Sosa was caught looking to end the first and ending when

Corey Patterson fanned to end the third.

Randy Choate completed Arizona's second shutout, allowing three

hits in two innings.

The Cubs gave up more runs in one game than they did in their

entire winning streak, when they outscored opponents 39-5.

Zambrano (2-1) was tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3

innings.

Arizona third baseman Chad Tracy -- in his fifth major league

game -- was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double, and made consecutive

standout defensive plays in the sixth. He lunged to his left to

grab Jose Macias' line drive, then tumbled headfirst over the fence

to catch Patterson's foul pop.

"I don't think I've seen any plays like that since I've been

here," Johnson said.

The Diamondbacks broke through in the third when Tracy led off

with a double off the center-field wall, then scored on Robby

Hammock's double just inside the right-field line. With two outs,

Alex Cintron tripled to the wall in left-center, bringing home

Hammock to make it 2-0.

Danny Bautista extended his career-best hitting streak to 18

games with a one-out single in the fourth. He moved to second on

Tracy's groundout. Zambrano intentionally walked Hammock to get to

Johnson, who singled down the right-field line on an 0-2 pitch to

bring home Bautista. Matt Kata added an RBI single to put Arizona

up 4-0.Game notes
Cubs right-hander Mark Prior will have a bullpen session

Tuesday, then remain in Mesa at the team's spring training facility

for more rehabilitation on his inflamed Achilles' tendon and sore

elbow. ... Bautista earned his first NL player of the week award

after batting .464 (13-for-28) last week with three doubles, three

homers and 10 RBI. ... Kata has a career-best eight-game hitting

streak.