It also was the eighth time in Johnson's nine starts this season that he had double-digit strikeouts. Strikeouts weren't a concern. It's nice to get the win because it puts everybody at ease. I've still got to learn the hitters and the ballparks but, in time, it will come. Apparently, it took barely two days, judging from the perplexed looks on the faces of Pirates hitters who couldn't catch up with a fastball that occasionally hit 98 mph and a slider that usually broke down and in.
Most pitchers like to concentrate and get into their own world.
He flies all day yesterday, and then his first day in the park he has to pitch. I'm sure that was hard on him, but he obviously performed pretty well. The Big Unit, who drew as many cheers during pregame introductions as the hometown Pirates, breezed through the first four innings in his first NL start since April 1989, allowing only two singles and walking one. So much for a difficult transition. They took a 2-1 lead on singles by Mark Smith and Ramirez, a hit batsman and Kevin Polcovich's sacrifice fly in the seventh.