Not a fun time for the Big Unit today... 87-degree muggy weather
in Pittsburgh, and then came his memorable 4th inning:
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"Johnson limited the Pirates to 6 singles and struck out three in 5.2
innings but was hurt by 3 errors -- including one by himself following
a third inning at-bat by Doug Mientkiewicz that visibly irritated him.
The benches and bullpens emptied briefly when Johnson left the mound
and began walking toward home plate, yelling, after Mientkiewicz twice
stepped out & was slow to get into the batter's box with a 2-1 count.
Johnson (4-3) went on to walk Mientkiewicz, who was 1-for-2 with two
walks and scored twice.
Johnson then mishandled Jose Bautista's grounder for an error and
catcher Miguel Montero, who had a miserable day, fumbled Duke's
sacrifice bunt attempt for another error that loaded the bases.
Johnson walked Luis Rivas to force in a run as the Pirates scored
without hitting a ball farther than 50 feet.
Johnson's wildness -- he walked five, with four scoring -- hurt him
again an inning later when Jason Michaels walked with one out,
Mientkiewicz singled into center on a hit-and-run and Bautista hit a
sacrifice fly. Jack Wilson walked leading off the fifth and eventually
scored on Xavier Nady's single to make it 3-1."
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Rex 'the Wonder Dog' Hudler should have some interesting analysis
of this on the Angels' broadcast...since he is the leading expert on
'Big Unit' psychology .
>> Stay informed about: Randy Johnson Meltdown !