D'Backs Win, Unit Streak Over

Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown, two of baseball's best, lived up to expectations. And after they left, Arizona won again.

Consecutive singles by Andy Fox, Travis Lee and Tony Womack scored the winning run in the ninth off reliever Terry Adams (2-3) as the Diamondbacks tied a club record with seven straight victories Wednesday night by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1.

With the no-decision in his eighth outing, Johnson's perfect start to the 2000 season is over, but he's still 7-0 and his ERA is 0.95.

"Looking at it now I guess it was what everyone hoped it would be," Johnson said of his duel with Brown. "You have a 1-1 ballgame until Kevin Brown comes out, then I think Travis, Foxy and Tony probably had the most comfortable at bats they had all night. But it was definitely a grind out there. Kevin pitched a great ball game."

"In the dugout two or three times I turned to the coaches and said `Do you know how lucky we are to be sitting here watching this?"' Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. "This is two great warrior pitchers going at it knowing that the margin for error is going to be real small. The managers and coaches are just trying to keep from messing everything up."

Johnson said he didn't argue when he was taken out after eight innings.

"I was tired," he said. "I was beat."

Reliever Byun-Hyun Kim (1-1) gave up a hit and committed an error in the ninth but struck out three to get the victory. Seventeen othe last 19 outs Kim has recorded have been by strikeouts.

"It was a 1-1 ballgame after both starters came out and BK is pretty amazing," Johnson said with a smile. "What can I say? Maybe he can help me with my submarine slider."

Brown allowed one run and six hits, struck out six and walked three. In his four starts since coming back from a broken finger, Brown has allowed a four earned runs but is just 1-1.

"The fact of the matter is we faced a guy at the top of his game," Brown said. "I had a lead and didn't hold it."

The Dodgers nursed a 1-0 lead on Todd Hundley's second-inning homer until Arizona tied it in the seventh.

Brown retired the first two batters in the seventh and had an 0-2 count on Jay Bell but walked him.

"That was the key to the whole game right there was Jay's at bat," Luis Gonzalez said, "0-2 and working him to a 3-2 count and then getting a walk there created an opportunity for me to get up there."

Gonzalez, who was 3-for-3, followed with a double to deep left-center, scoring Bell from first.

"I'm not sure it was that bad of a pitch," Brown said of the one Gonzalez hit. "But I walked the guy in front of him after I had two strikes to set it up."

Johnson has struck out at least 10 in seven of eight starts and has 88 strikeouts this season. He increased his strikeout total to 2,781 to pass Frank Tanana for 15th in the career list.

"We helped him a bit by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone," Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. "But when you're throwing the ball hard and around the plate, you get more strikeouts, too."

Todd Green, who bats left-handed, was 3-for-4. Going in, lefties were 2-for-25 against Johnson this season.

Johnson struck out Adrian Beltre to lead off the second, but Hundley hit a 2-2 pitch into the left field seats to make it 1-0. Jose Vizciano, who was 3-for-4, singled and moved to second on Brown's sacrifice bunt, then F.P. Santangelo singled to put runners at first and third. Mark Grudzielanek lined out to right to end the inning.

Eric Karros missed a home run by inches in the sixth when the ball bounced off the top of the right-field fence. Bernard Gilkey almost caught the ball, but it bounced free for a double.

The Diamondbacks stranded eight runners in the first three innings. They had the bases loaded with two outs in the third when Bernard Gilkey, who had hit .400 against Brown in his career, struck out. Gilkey was 0-for-4 and struck out three times.

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