Mercury News
Randy Johnson's pursuit of 300 victories has entered the home stretch.
The Giants left-hander wasn't in top form on a cold, windy Monday night at AT&T Park, but he pitched five effective innings and was backed by the team's biggest scoring outburst this season to defeat the Washington Nationals 11-7 for career victory No. 298.
Johnson, who has won his past three home starts, goes for No. 299 at home Saturday against New York Mets ace Johan Santana.
"It's incredible," said first baseman Travis Ishikawa, who helped Johnson's cause with three hits and flipped over the railing and into the first row to catch a foul ball down the right-field line in the second inning. "For me especially, it's gratifying, just because as a kid (in the Seattle area) I grew up watching him. ... I'll just be very blessed and fortunate to be part of that when it happens."
No. 300 moved within striking distance on a night when the 6-foot-10 Johnson and Nationals 6-foot-9 right-hander Daniel Cabrera created the tallest starting pitching matchup in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. But neither could avoid a short outing in a game in which Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 29 games.
"I just want to pitch good games," Johnson said. "I'm not making a big thing about (reaching 300 wins) and my stance hasn't really changed. I came here to win games, and hopefully we'll win enough to win the West." Johnson was most frustrated with the home runs. He has allowed five in the past two games and 10 in seven starts. "I'm on pace to probably catch Barry (Bonds) in home runs — giving them up, that is," Johnson said. Washington, which has the worst record in baseball, made things interesting by scoring three runs in the ninth on a three-run homer by Zimmerman and had runners on first and third with two out when closer Brian Wilson entered. Wilson, who had a two-inning win the previous day in Los Angeles, earned his fifth save by striking out Josh Willingham on three pitches. "It's something that's great for him, it's great for the Giants," Wilson said. "He's two away. It's fun doing the countdown and it'll be fun having the celebration for him." The Giants chased Cabrera in the fifth inning after he walked four consecutive batters, the final two with the bases loaded. The 11 runs were the most by the Giants since they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-6 on opening day, and they came on a day when Manager Bruce Bochy shook up the lineup. Hot-hitting second baseman Emmanuel Burriss moved to the leadoff spot and slumping left fielder Fred Lewis dropped to seventh. The new alignment clearly paid dividends, although Cabrera's erratic command and a wind-aided fielding gaffe by left fielder Josh Willingham that sparked a five-run fifth inning certainly helped. "We've talked about this; we need production from throughout the order," Bochy said. "We got that today." With the Giants trailing 1-0, Randy Winn sparked the offense with a one-out single in the second inning and scored on a wild pitch, a preview of Cabrera's control issues. Lewis scored the go-ahead run on Ishikawa's RBI single later in the inning. The hit snapped an 0-for-17 slump, but it wasn't Ishikawa's biggest contribution of the night. That came in the fifth, when he was intentionally walked, sparking a run of five straight walks that turned a 3-2 game into a blowout. "I'm glad I could set the tone," Ishikawa joked. From: MLB.com
 Washington (10-20) Lost 2 | San Francisco 11, Washington 7 |  San Francisco (17-14) Won 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 5/11/09 | Recap: WSH | SF | Gameday | Nationals stats | Giants stats |
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