In a highly touted pitching matchup that had Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Randy Johnson on the card, Johnson got the better of Matsuzaka helping the Arizona Diamondbacks (37-27) beat the Boston Red Sox (40-22) by a score of 5-1.
Johnson (4-2) who bettered Matsuzaka, picking up the win in the contest, went 6 innings, on four hits, one earned run, three walks, and nine strikeouts while Dice-K (7-5) also went 6 innings, giving up four hits, two earned runs, four walks and equaling Johnson in strikeouts with nine.
With nine strikeouts, Randy Johnson finished the game with 4,614 career strikeouts, passing Roger Clemens for second-most all-time in strikeouts.
Both teams scored in the fourth inning and the Sox struck first blood on a Mike Lowell RBI double putting the game at 1-0. Stephen Drew tied the score at 1-1 with an RBI single that scored Orlando Hudson.
Johnson and Matsuzaka continued to duel one another until the bottom of the sixth where the Diamondbacks lineup got to Matsuzaka for another run.
Carlos Quentin doubled home Conor Jackson giving the D-backs the lead 2-1.
Both starting pitchers were done after the sixth and it was then that the Diamondbacks got to recently called up reliever Mike Timlin.
The home team scored three in the bottom of the eighth on a combination of a throwing error by Timlin and an RBI single off of Timlin as well.
With two men on Quentin sacrificed over Drew and Jackson to third and second base. Here is where it gets tricky. On the throw to first by Timlin attempting to make the first out at first, he air-mailed it over Kevin Youkilis outstretched glove which scored Drew and Jackson and pushed over Quentin to third base.
Chris Young gave the Red Sox the final blow in that inning bringing home Quentin on an RBI single notching the score at 5-1.
With only one inning left where in which the Red Sox needed to tie the game at least to push it to extra innings they failed to score anything ending their chance at the sweep against Arizona.
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