Chicago.Cubs.MLB.com

Carlos Zambrano suffered his first loss of the season against the D-Backs on Monday. (Paul Connors/AP)

Johnson struck out 10 and hit an RBI single to remain unbeaten against Chicago and lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-0 victory Monday night, snapping the Cubs' winning streak at six games.

"There's only one Randy Johnson," Cubs center fielder Corey Patterson said.

Richie Sexson hit a mammoth 503-foot, two-run homer that busted part of the center-field scoreboard and Chad Tracy added a two-run single and made the catch of the game to back Johnson (2-2), who didn't need much help.

"It just wasn't our night tonight," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.

Carlos Zambrano  /   P
		Born: 06/01/81 Height: 6'5" Weight: 255 lbs Bats: S / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

Especially not for starter Carlos Zambrano.

"It's just a bad day," Zambrano said. "I made some quality pitches and they hit them. I just have to forget about them and think about the next step."

Johnson gave up two hits over seven innings and improved to 12-0 lifetime against the Cubs. Baker was unaware of the lopsided record until Sunday. Johnson did not face Chicago last year.

"If I was playing," Baker said before Monday's game, "I'd want to do something about it. The way I look at it, the law of averages is on our side. And 12 is my lucky number."

It wasn't a winner Monday. Johnson may be 40 years old and his fastball doesn't top 99 mph, but he is effective.

"He's still Randy Johnson. He'll still be Randy Johnson at the Old Timers games -- everybody else will just be a little older," Baker said. "This guy is a pro. He finds a way to win."

The crowd of 33,564 was overloaded with Cubs fans, who did their part to make Bank One Ballpark feel like Wrigley Field West.

Zambrano (2-1) was handed his first loss, serving up 10 hits and walking two over 4 1/3 innings. His hitting may have hurt him. With one out in the Cubs' third, he singled off Johnson. Zambrano was stranded -- and on the field a long time -- as Johnson struck out both Jose Macias and Patterson. Zambrano said it wasn't a big deal.

But Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half on back-to-back doubles by Tracy and Robby Hammock. Zambrano made a somersault catch of Johnson's sacrifice bunt attempt and one out later, Alex Cintron tripled to score Hammock.

How did Zambrano get a hit off Johnson when his teammates couldn't?

"All the time, when I was in the batter's box, I was thinking of the slider he was throwing," Zambrano said. "He was throwing everybody a slider. I got the pitch and hit it good."

The key play in the game came in the D-Backs' fourth. Zambrano intentionally walked Hammock to face Johnson and put runners at first and second with two out. But Johnson poked a single to right to drive in a run and Matt Kata added an RBI single to go ahead, 4-0.

"The big play was when we walked Hammock and had Randy 0-2, and then he gets a base hit and Kata gets a base hit and it's 4-0," Baker said. "Usually when 'Big Z' gets you 0-2 -- I'm sure he didn't want to get that much of the plate. It was Randy's night tonight."

"I had an 0-2 count and I should've thrown something in the dirt, or something more high," Zambrano said. "It was a mistake and I paid for that.

"I didn't make my pitches today. They were hitting everything," Zambrano said. "It was kind of like, the one bad start you have in the year and this is the one that happened today. I don't think it will happen again."

Johnson doesn't have many bad outings, at least not against the Cubs.

"He had great command of his breaking ball and off-speed stuff," Baker said of the lefty. "You saw an occasional 95 (mph). He was pitching. He had us looking like he was in total command, which he was."

"You can't hang your head about it," Patterson said. "It's Randy Johnson."

Tracy hit a two-run single in the fifth to chase Zambrano. Another run scored on a wild pitch by reliever Michael Wuertz. Sexson's blast came in the sixth off Francis Beltran.

"That doesn't surprise me," Baker said of Sexson's blast. "He's going to break his own record before the year is over. He can hit. He can hit that ball out of the ballpark. People are going to enjoy watching him. I'm just glad he's not in Milwaukee anymore."

Tracy helped Johnson with his glove when he caught Patterson's popup in foul territory and then tumbled over the fence to end the Chicago sixth. The only other hit off Johnson was a one-out single by Moises Alou in the seventh.

Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

print this page    |    email this page