Randy Johnson lived up to every inch of his reputation as a 6-foot, 10-inch intimidator Tuesday night.
The star Seattle left-hander improved his record to 7-1 as the Mariners breezed to a 9-5 victory over the White Sox before a paid house of 25,858 fans in Comiskey Park.
Johnson struck out 10 batters and permitted only five hits in the seven innings he worked.
Frank Thomas tied the game 2-2 with his 15th homer in the first inning. Johnson struck out Thomas, the final batter he faced, when Thomas represented the tying run with two men on in the seventh.
Johnson went into the game with a season average of 12.75 strikeouts per nine innings, more than a full strikeout ahead of Nolan Ryan’s 1987 major-league record of 11.48.
To combat the intimidating lefty, Sox manager Terry Bevington stacked his lineup with right-handed batters. He was prepared to manage a special kind of game, stressing the manufacture of one run at a time rather than looking for the big inning.
Right-handed hitters Mike Devereaux, Norberto Martin, and Craig Grebeck were in the Sox lineup. Lefties Ozzie Guillen, John Kruk, and Warren Newson were on the bench. The only left-handed hitters in the lineup were fifth-place hitter Robin Ventura and leadoff man Lance Johnson.
“And Lance has the best average against Randy Johnson of anybody we have, something like .340,” said Bevington.
Johnson had a 2-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Alvarez walked Edgar Martinez with two out in the first, and Mike Blowers homered over the center-field fence.
Thomas quickly tied the game 2-2. Tim Raines walked with one out in the bottom of the first. Thomas then took a whack at a 3-and-0 pitch and drilled it over the center-field fence. His homer was measured at 416 feet.
Trying to the manufacture a go-ahead run, Ray Durham stole second after his one-out single in the second. Johnson then fanned Ron Karkovice and Martin.
In the third, Seattle succeeded at what the Sox had just failed to do. Gary Thurman beat out a chopper, stole second and scored on Edgar Martinez’s two-out single to right. The Mariners and Johnson led 3-2.
Johnson ran his strikeout streak to four in a row and six for the night when he whiffed Johnson and Raines in the third. Thomas’ bid for a game-tying homer was caught by Thurman on the warning track in right.
———-
NEXT: vs. Seattle, Wednesday, 7:05 p.m., SportsChannel.
