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Ailing Johnson still dominates

CINCINNATI -- Randy Johnson felt rundown when he woke up Thursday morning, still suffering from a one-day malady that left his head pounding and his 6-foot-10 frame wobbly.

He had a quick sandwich and a bottle of water when he got to the ballpark, then looked anything but sickly on a hot, humid night.

The left-hander gave up two hits in eight innings, striking out 11 as the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Reds 7-2 Thursday night.

"Just another amazing performance," Arizona manager Bob Brenly said. "He was a little under the weather and not on top of his game, and he was able to go out and pretty much dominate."

Johnson allowed Brandon Larson's homer in the second and Sean Casey's infield single as he extended his winning streak to five. The left-hander has allowed five runs with 59 strikeouts in 41 innings during that stretch.

"That guy's good," said Adam Dunn, who lobbied to play against Johnson and was 0-for-3 with a strikeout. "The thing about him is that he pitches. He's not just out there throwing. He keeps you off-balance and he uses his slider."

The third-place Reds dropped a season-high 51/2 games behind St. Louis in the Central.

The Reds managed one rally against Johnson, when they loaded the bases in the seventh on an error, Casey's hit and a hit batter. Johnson then hit Larson on the foot with a slider to force in a run but struck out the next two.

Not bad for a pitcher who was so sick the previous night he went back to the team hotel early.

"I had a bad headache, no life," Johnson said. "I felt a lot better this morning. I was just kind of drained. The weather had a lot to do with it, too. It kind of zaps the energy out of you."

CUBS 6, ASTROS 4: Mark Prior showed the best way to pitch with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field is to keep batters from putting the ball in play.

The rookie struck out 12 in six innings, including seven straight to tie a club record, to lead Chicago.

"It was aware of it, it felt good," Prior said. "I've always been a strikeout pitcher. I think everybody considers me one. But it's not my goal to strike out guys."

Prior, whose season high of 13 strikeouts came Aug. 4 against Colorado, got his first six during the streak swinging. The seven in a row tied the Cubs record shared by Jamie Moyer and Kerry Wood, and it was three short of Tom Seaver's major-league record.

CARDINALS 11, PIRATES 5: Pinch-hitter Eli Marrero hit a tiebreaking single and Tino Martinez added a three-run double in a six-run ninth as visiting St. Louis won its season-high sixth in a row.

Four runs were unearned because of third baseman Aramis Ramirez's error leading off the inning.

DODGERS 1, EXPOS 0: Rightfielder Shawn Green threw out the tying run at home to end the game for visiting Los Angeles.

Omar Daal and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter for the Dodgers, who maintained their lead over San Francisco in the wild-card race.

PADRES 5, METS 3: Tom Lampkin had three hits and two RBIs as San Diego capitalized on three errors to extend New York's longest home losing streak in 22 years.

The Mets have lost five straight overall and eight in a row at Shea Stadium, falling a season-high four games below .500. It's New York's longest losing streak at home since it dropped eight straight in August 1980 on the way to a 67-95 season.

PHILLIES 5, BREWERS 0: Joe Roa scattered four singles over a career-high seven innings for his first win in more than five years as host Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep.

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