Johnson

WASHINGTON — Randy Johnson did a lot of name-dropping after winning his 300th game. Nolan Ryan. Greg Maddux. Don Sutton. Now that he's in their league, he appreciates them even more.

"It sounds funny, but I've played 22 years, I'm 45, and I've come upon 300 wins," Johnson said. "And I'm thinking I only have 211 more to catch Cy Young."

Or 55 to catch Maddux. Or 24 to catch Sutton and Ryan. Johnson also pointed out that, even though he's No. 2 in strikeouts, he still nearly 1,000 behind Ryan.

"It really puts things in the perspective," Johnson said. "I have a great deal of respect for my peers because I know how hard it is to do what they've done now."

Johnson certainly has a shot at climbing quite a bit higher up the victory list if he keeps pitching the way he did Thursday. No longer the strike-'em-out force he was in his youth, The Big Unit cleverly threw six innings of two-hit ball in the San Francisco Giants' 5-1 win over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader.

"It's adjusting, adapting and improvising," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "This guy, to make the adjustment from the mid-90s guy with a nasty slider to mix in the changeup — instead of being the old flame thrower."

Johnson allowed an unearned run, walked two and struck out two, throwing 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He faced four batters above the minimum and got shutout relief from his bullpen. After weeks of downplaying the 300 milestone, he was flush with emotion as he celebrated with family and friends who had made the trip. His 13-year-old son, Tanner, served as batboy.

"I think it kind of hit me when I walked on the field," Johnson said. "It's a long-range achievement. It's not a one-game or a one-year achievement, it's a career achievement. Who knows how many teammates I've had over my 21 years, but they had a great deal to do with my success. I'm going to think about this for a long time."

It was hardly the ideal setting for a historic moment. The crowd was small and the weather was wet. Some of the few thousand fans who witnessed the feat — the Nationals have trouble drawing a crowd for anything these days — chanted "Randy! Randy!" in the bottom of the ninth, and he tipped his hat to them.

Johnson (5-4) became the 24th pitcher to reach the milestone and first to get 300 on his first try since Tom Seaver in 1985.

"He's become one of the dinosaurs with the other 23, and he didn't want to make a big deal out of it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "But you could see after the game — I'm sure he's had his eye on this 300 for a while."