It was a moment that had been hyped up since the start of the season, but due to Mother Nature (that whore), Randy Johnson won his 300th career game in front of a rain soaked crowd of about 10 people.

Nevertheless, he’s now a part of the illustrious 300-win club.

Johnson pitched six innings on Thursday, allowing just two hits and one unearned run in the Giants’ 5-1 victory over the Nationals. He got a fair amount of help from his bullpen, who pitched three scoreless innings in a steady rain to preserve the Giants’ lead, which had been 2-1 until the ninth inning when San Fran scratched across three more insurance runs.

With the win, the Big Unit became only the 24th pitcher to get to 300 victories and is the second-oldest pitcher to achieve the milestone. He’s also the first pitcher to get his 299th and 300th win in consecutive starts since Tom Seaver did it in 1985.

One moment that’ll surely be overlooked from this game is an amazing defensive play by Giants second baseman Emmanuel Burriss in the fifth inning. With the Giants up 2-0, Johnson gave up a hit to Elijah Dukes, who advanced to second on a passed ball the very next batter.

Johnson then walked Austin Kearns, which brought the leading run to the plate in Ronnie Belliard. Belliard then scorched a pitch that ricocheted sharply off the mound and looked to be heading into center field for a base hit. But Burriss made a diving stop and flipped the ball with only his glove to shortstop Edgar Renteria, who got the force out at second and then completed the double play by throwing out Belliard at first. Johnson then got Will Nieves to ground out to Burriss to end the inning and preserve the Giants’ 2-0 lead.

Even though nothing can take the moment away from the Big Unit, it’s a shame that not more people were in attendance to enjoy the victory. That said, his family was front and center and that’s all that matters. It’s a fantastic milestone for Johnson, a player that never cheated the game. (At least as far as we know, that is.)

Randy Johnson will go for career win No. 300 when the Giants take on the Nationals tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET. Johnson hasn’t won back-to-back starts all season and he’s coming off a win over the Braves on May 27.

Some believe the Big Unit is a shoe-in to win No. 300 tonight because he’s taking on a Washington team that’s just 14-36 on the year and lost six straight before beating San Fran 10-6 last night. But the Nats have scored the 12th most runs in baseball and are ninth in home runs, which Johnson has served plenty of this season (10 in 10 starts to be exact).

Johnson’s performance so far this season matches his stats line, which is to say he has been very average. He’s currently 4-4 with a 5.71 ERA and while he’s pitched well his last two outings, he also hasn’t reached the seventh inning in eight of his 10 starts. He simply runs out of gas when the game reaches the fifth and sixth inning, which means the Giants bullpen has often been the deciding factor in whether or not the Big Unit is victorious.

I don’t want to piss on his parade, but I don’t see Johnson winning tonight. Jordan Zimmerman is throwing for the Nats and the Giants don’t have a good enough offense to jump out to a big lead early and allow the Big Unit to cruise. As much as I would love to watch history tonight, I’ve got a gut feeling Johnson will be stuck at 299 by the end of the night.

Still, the Giants are always in tight ball games, so it would be cool to see Johnson throw six strong innings and then watch as the bullpen tries to preserve the victory for him. As much as SF closer Brian Wilson gets jacked for games, it would also be sweet to see him have to come in for a save in ninth with Johnson’s No. 300 hanging in the balance.

With the Giants’ 6-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday night, Randy Johnson earned career victory No. 299.

Johnson breezed through the first five innings, retiring 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, striking out five and allowing just one run and three hits. But he ran out of gas in the sixth and had to be relieved by Brandon Medders, who got out of that inning but allowed Atlanta to score two unearned runs to cut into San Fran’s lead at 4-3.

But the Giants managed to add two runs in their half of the seventh and gave the bullpen enough of a cushion to preserve the win for the Big Unit, who will now go for career win No. 300 next Wednesday on the road against the Nationals.

If Johnson claims victory, he’ll join amazing company in Cy Young, Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as other pitchers who have 300 career victories. It would have been nice for the home crowd in San Francisco if the Big Unit went for 300 at AT&T Park, although I think they’ve already seen a great moment or two in baseball history over the past couple years. (Even if a lot of baseball fans think that moment was tainted.)

Some pitching statistics are not very complimentary, most of all the gopher ball line….that is, for pitchers who have a penchant for throwing that big fat pitch that a hitter tends to crush over the fence. Here is a list of the active pitchers who lead the majors in this category, and only includes players who are currently on a major league roster:

1. Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies (474)—Okay, so he’s been pitching since 1986 and throws mostly slow junk, but Moyer has given up double digits in gopher balls 16 times, including FORTY FOUR in 2004 while with Seattle, the fifth highest total for a single season in baseball history. And he is only 31 behind all-time leader Robin Roberts, who gave up 505 long balls. Way to go, Jamie.

2. Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants (399)—We can pretty much give the Big Unit a pass, because he’s struck out 4,819 batters and is closing in on 300 wins.

3. Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox (363)—All you can say is that sometimes the knuckleball is completely baffling, and sometimes it looks like a soccer ball to the hitter.

4. Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves (356)—As good as Glavine is and has been throughout his illustrious career, he has always had the penchant for giving up the long ball.

5. Javier Vasquez, Atlanta Braves (304)—Since breaking into the big leagues in 1998, Vasquez has AVERAGED 29 homers given up per season…he’s been as low as 20, and as high as 35. Batter up!

6. Livan Hernandez, New York Mets (301)—I read recently where Livan’s pitches were clocking in the 62 mph range…..are you kidding me? Yet, he’s still getting hitters out with regularity.

6. Jeff Suppan, Milwaukee Brewers (301)—Jeff Suppan has always had decent control, averaging 68 walks per season since breaking in with the Red Sox in 1995. But he’s also given up an average of 27 homers per season. Sometimes control means you leave it out over the plate.

8. John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox (277)—Smoltz has only averaged 16 homers given up per season, including a few years as the Braves’ closer, but still—you pitch since 1988, your numbers are going to add up.

9. Bartolo Colon, Chicago White Sox (245)—In 2004, Bartolo won 18 games but gave up 38 homers. Somebody must have inspired or bribed him with cheeseburgers the next year when he went 21-8 and won the AL Cy Young.

10. Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (235)—For all those years with the short porch in right field in the old Yankee Stadium, Pettitte gave up a career high 27 homers while pitching for the Astros in 2006.

Source: Baseball Reference

For at least a moment, let’s put away all of the Manny-Ramirez-disgraced-the-game headlines and talk a little baseball, shall we?

Who stands to gain the most from Manny’s 50-game suspension? Your answer might be the San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers are the best team in the NL West regardless whether or not Ramirez is in their lineup. Andre Ethier is absolutely raking at the plate, Orlando Hudson is getting on base like it’s his life mission and 24-year old Chad Billingsley (5-0, 2.21 ERA, 42 Ks) is pitching like a Cy Young candidate.

The loss of Manny certainly hurts, but it’s not like the Dodgers have been a one-man wrecking crew in amassing the league’s best record to this point. Guys like Ethier, Hudson, James Loney and a couple of live arms in the starting rotation are good enough to compete in a weak NL West with or without Ramirez.

But there’s no question that having Manny in the lineup makes Ethier, Hudson and Loney better, while Juan Pierre (Ramirez’s sub in left field) is a massive drop off in every offensive category outside of stolen bases. The bottom line is that the Dodgers are a better offensive club with Ramirez in the lineup – much better.

Heading into Friday’s action, the Dodgers own a 5.5-game lead over the Giants, a 7.5-game lead over the Padres and 8.5-game leads over the Diamondbacks and Rockies in the NL West. Arizona can’t hit and is in turmoil after firing manager Bob Melvin, Colorado still has plenty of young talent but has been inconsistent to this point and one has to wonder if San Diego will stay competitive long enough not to be tempted to trade ace Jake Peavy in order to start building for the future.

That leaves San Francisco, who at 14-13 certainly isn’t a powerhouse, but it has enough pieces to make a run at the Manny-less Dodgers.

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