It's the top of the eighth now and the D'Backs are down 1-0 so it looks like another spectacular performance will be wasted - again. (end of the eighth, after an arrogant, stupid batter thought his single was worth two bases).
But this lanky dominator has just blown away another team. He struck out 15, his fourth straight double-digit strike out game. His previous three starts, two losses and a win, were 11, 14 and 14. Four times this year he struck out 14 or more in a game.
His season ERA is 2.71 and opponents are hitting just .189 against him - both tops in the league.
Of course, The D'Backs have scored less than a run a game on average over his past five starts.
If the D'Backs had even a faint notion of what it takes to score runs, Johnson would have 20 wins already, entering September with a good shot at 25 or 26.
He's leading the league in ERA, strikouts, walks and hits per innings pitched, and second in innings pitched, complete games, and tragically, losses.
Only three pitchers in the league have thrown more pitches than Randy.
(Arizona scores on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, so Randy's not stuck with a loss. Still, that a no decision is all that stands to reflect such a great performance should be a crime.)
He won four Cy Young awards in a row, and while he won't this year, he certainly should.
(And, just because it's such a delightful notion, I thought I'd mention the Devils, I mean Yankees, lost 22-0.)
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