Johnson Shows Why Houston Dealt for Him

Randy Johnson was everything the Astros wanted when they sacrificed their future to get him: Overpowering, dominating, intimidating. Best of all, he was a winner.

Johnson, pitching fewer than 48 hours after Houston swung a big trade to get him, struck out 12 in seven innings and the Astros scored four times in the eighth to defeat the Pirates, 6-2, on Sunday at Pittsburgh.

“I can’t say enough about the guys scoring those runs in the eighth,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t really nervous. I knew there was a lot of anticipation, and I wanted to give a good effort.”

Despite jet leg and an unfamiliarity with the hitters--he recognized only a few names while studying box scores during an all-day trip Saturday from Seattle--Johnson was just as menacing for the NL Central-leading Astros as he was for the Mariners.

His 12 strikeouts were a season high for an Astro pitcher and gave him a major-league leading 225 for the season. It also was the eighth time that he had double-digit strikeouts.

“Strikeouts weren’t a concern. Winning was,” said Johnson, who was traded for three prospects Friday.

Johnson (10-10), who walked one, hit a batter and threw 116 pitches, was replaced by the Astros’ best pitching prospect, Scott Elarton, who sailed through the final two innings for his second save.

It was a smooth return all the way around for Johnson, 34, who didn’t arrive in Pittsburgh until 9 p.m. EDT Saturday but chose to stay on his normal five-day rotation by pitching Sunday. He last worked Tuesday, losing to Cleveland.

“I’m tired, hungry and ornery, just the way I want to be before I pitch,” he said.

Cincinnati 5, Florida 1--Dennis Reyes had nine strikeouts in his Reds’ debut and Pat Watkins homered at Miami.

Reyes (1-4), recalled from the minors on Saturday, held the Marlins to one run and three hits in six innings for just his third major-league victory.

Reyes, who started the season with the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, was acquired by the Reds in a trade for reliever Jeff Shaw on July 4.

Colorado 6, Chicago 3--Neifi Perez hit a go-ahead single in a three-run seventh inning at Chicago as the Rockies snapped a three-game losing streak.

Pedro Astacio (10-10) improved his record since the All-Star break to 4-1, and also helped himself with an RBI double and sacrifice bunt.

Chicago’s Sammy Sosa still has 42 homers after going 0 for two with two walks.

Atlanta 4, St. Louis 3--Kevin Millwood and the Braves again shut down Mark McGwire at Atlanta, and Ryan Klesko drove in two runs

McGwire was hitless in four at-bats and struck out three times. The major league home run leader was hitless in 11 at-bats in the three-game series, striking out seven times and never getting a ball out of the infield. Since hitting his 45th home run against Milwaukee last Tuesday, McGwire has gone 18 at-bats without homering.

Milwaukee 7, Arizona 2--Brad Woodall pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time since June 27 as the Brewers defeated the Diamondbacks at Milwaukee, avoiding a three-game sweep.