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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DENVER (AP) -- Randy Johnson delivered a victory just when the
Arizona Diamondbacks needed it the most.
Johnson won his 19th game as Arizona kept alive its slim playoff
hopes with a 6-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
 | | | Randy Johnson threw 134 pitches in 7 2/3 innings to notch his 19th win. He also had two hits and one RBI. |
"Matt Williams says that we are swimming upstream in a strong
current," Johnson said. "I said coming out of L.A. that anything
is possible, and until we are mathematically eliminated, we are
still in this."
Johnson (19-6) allowed four runs and 10 hits in 7 2/3 innings.
He struck out eight and walked four as the Diamondbacks won for the
fourth time in five games.
He also helped himself at the plate with two hits and an RBI.
"This is Colorado," Johnson said. "Runs here are critical
because you know you are going to give up your share as well."
Matt Mantei pitched the ninth for his 17th save.
"It was important for Johnson to pitch the way he did in this
ballpark," Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. "He won the
ballgame for us even though his breaking ball was not as good as it
usually is."
Luis Gonzalez, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI, gave the
Diamondbacks the lead for good with a two-run single in the fifth
inning. Greg Colbrunn added a solo home run for Arizona, which
pulled within six games of the idle New York Mets for the NL wild-card spot.
"I think at this point we are seeing the resiliency of this
team, and we will not give up," Johnson said of his 134-pitch
effort.
A loss would have eliminated the defending NL West Division
champions.
"We busted our tails and made Johnson work," said Colorado
manager Buddy Bell. " I made it easier on him by making some poor
decisions."
Neifi Perez went 2-for-5 with a home run and Juan Pierre had
three hits and an RBI for the Rockies, who lost for the eighth time
in 10 games. Brian Rose (4-4) allowed four runs and seven hits in
six innings.
"I was lucky," Perez said. "He is the best pitcher in the
league."
Perez hit his 10th home run the year in the first inning to give
the Rockies a 1-0 lead.
"I was looking fastball all the way and got it," Perez said.
"You have to look fastball from him when he is behind in the count
2-1."
Arizona tied it at 1 in the third inning on Williams' sacrifice
fly.
Colorado regained the lead in the third on Butch Huskey's
sacrifice fly.
Johnson and Craig Counsell singled leading off the fifth inning.
After Bautista moved up the runners with a ground out to first,
Gonzalez singled past Jeff Cirillo at third scoring Johnson and
Counsell to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead.
Colbrunn extended the lead to 4-2 with his 15th home run of the
year in the sixth inning.
The Rockies got a run back in the sixth to get within 4-3 on
Adam Melhuse's sacrifice fly.
Gonzalez added an RBI single off Gabe White in the seventh
inning and Johnson made it 6-4 with a RBI single in the eighth.
Game notes
INF Tony Womack turned 31 Monday and is scheduled to have
his left knee scoped early Tuesday. Womack had been hobbled by a
cyst behind his left knee for the past three months. ... RHP Todd
Stottlemyre was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday and
instead will have surgery on his right elbow. ... Perez
is hitting .389 with three home runs and four RBI against Johnson.
... With Johnson on the mound, the Rockies faced back-to-back
left-handed starters. Colorado had gone 22 games without facing a
left-handed starter between Aug. 29 when they opposed Omar Daal
of Philadelphia and Sunday when they faced Florida's Jesus Sanchez.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Arizona Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 9
Chi. White Sox 2
Detroit 15
NY Yankees 4
Tampa Bay 5
Toronto 1
Oakland 7
Anaheim 5
Atlanta 6
Montreal 0
Chicago Cubs 4
Philadelphia 3
Arizona 6
Colorado 4
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