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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- Edgardo Alfonzo ruined Randy Johnson at the start and buried the Arizona Diamondbacks at the finish.
Alfonzo, who had a solo home run in the first inning, hit a
grand slam with two outs in the ninth off reliever Bobby Chouinard as the New York Mets beat the Diamondbacks 8-4 Tuesday night in the
opener of their NL playoff series.
"Over the last few years, Edgardo Alfonzo has been a fabulous baseball player who has kind of a star quality," said Mets manager
Bobby Valentine, in a playoff game for the first time.
"But he's improving. He's gaining confidence, and with confidence you get performances like you saw tonight," Valentine said.
Johnson, who left the game with the bases loaded and one out in
the ninth, lost his sixth straight postseason decision, a major
league record. He struck out 11 and held on through an exhausting
138 pitches as Arizona rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie it at 4.
John Olerud became the first left-handed batter to hit a homer off Johnson in two years with his two-run shot in the third that
made it 3-0. Olerud and the Mets' other left-hander in the lineup
each had two hits off Johnson, who usually dominates lefties.
"The guys came out swinging. I thought they were just great at-bats tonight," Valentine said. "We got four hits left-handed, and that's determination. That's reaching down and wanting it."
The Diamondbacks rallied on home runs by Erubiel Durazo and Luis
Gonzalez to make it 4-all.
Johnson settled down to pitch four hitless innings, but another
lefty, Robin Ventura, led off the ninth with a single. With one
out, Rey Ordonez singled, then Johnson walked Melvin Mora to load
the bases and bring on Chouinard.
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GAME 1 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
Edgardo Alfonzo, the Mets' chic choice for league MVP, continued his storybook season with two home runs, including the game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning.
Key number
For all his strikeouts and regular-season dominance, Randy Johnson somehow has the major-league record for consecutive playoff losses with six.
Last word
"You get behind in the count, he just started throwing
fastballs. He didn't want to walk me. He was just
throwing me fastball to see what happens."
-- New York's Edgardo Alfonzo
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Third baseman Matt Williams made a diving stop, his second of the game, on Rickey Henderson's grounder, and threw home to force out Ventura.
But Alfonzo hit Chouinard's 3-1 pitch just inside the left-field
foul pole for the grand slam.
Arizona manager Buck Showalter said he felt it was right to leave Johnson in the game, even though the big left-hander had said he was getting close to running out of gas. He said he used
Chouinard because he'd been one of the best relievers this season.
"I wish we could have figured out a way to keep Alfonzo in the park, then maybe we could have had some fun in the ninth inning," Showalter said.
Johnson, whose postseason record fell to 2-6, allowed seven runs
on eight hits. Turk Wendell pitched one inning and was the winner.
"I didn't know if it was a foul or fair ball," Alfonzo said.
"I stayed at home plate, going, 'C'mon, c'mon."'
Johnson now is in sole possession of the longest postseason
losing streak by a pitcher. Joe Bush (1914-23) and Doyle Anderson
(1973-87) both lost five in a row.
"Randy Johnson is one of the best pitchers in baseball right
now," Alfonzo said. "You have to be patient and wait for a pitch
to hit."
In the seventh, Johnson doubled for his first postseason hit.
But he was doubled up when took off running on Tony Womack's one-out fly ball to left.
The Mets showed no sign of being emotionally spent despite an overnight flight after their 5-0 wild-card playoff victory Monday night at Cincinnati.
With one out in the first, Alfonzo, who had 27 homers in the
regular season, hit Johnson's 0-2 pitch over the left-center field
wall. On Monday night, Alfonzo also homered in the first inning the
previous day against the Reds.
Olerud and Mike Piazza followed with singles before Johnson struck out Benny Agbayani and Ventura to end the inning. Johnson retired the side in order in the second, but walked Henderson to
start the third.
With one out, Olerud made it 3-0 when he hit Johnson's 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence, the first left-hander to hit a homer off the Big Unit since Jim Edmonds did it twice on Sept. 23, 1997.
Arizona cut the lead to 3-1 in the third when Womack tripled to
deep left field, then scored on Jay Bell's sacrifice fly. Ventura led off the fourth with a double, moved to second on Shawon Dunston's bunt single and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Rey Ordonez to make it 4-1.
Durazo, who started the season in Double-A El Paso but became
Arizona's starting first baseman in July, made it 4-2 with a solo
homer in the fourth.
Bell led off the sixth with a single, then Gonzalez hit a home run an estimated 452 feet into the right-field seats to tie it at 4.
Johnson was coming off what he has called his best season, when
he struck out 364, fourth-most in baseball history, and led the
National League in ERA at 2.48.
Game notes
Valentine said Orel Hershiser likely will not start any
games in the series. ... Henderson stole second twice. ... The Mets committed just 68 errors in the regular season, a major league record. ... Three of the first six hits off Johnson were by
left-handed batters. ... Johnson threw 78 pitches in the first four innings. ... Williams saved a run with a diving stop on pitcher Masato Yoshii's grounder with a runner at second in the fourth inning. ... The 49,584 at the game made up the largest paid crowd in Bank One Ballpark's two-year history.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
Big Unit's playoff woes grow
RECAPS
NY Yankees 8
Texas 0
Houston 6
Atlanta 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Edgardo Alfonzo talks about his "grand" performance.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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