Big Unit feels 'comfortable' after rehab start

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Randy Johnson felt like his left arm needed one more tuneup before being ready for the Major Leagues following a Triple-A start last Friday.

He got that tuneup on Thursday night pitching for the Triple-A Sidewinders, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced without allowing a hit in Tucson's 4-2 win over Salt Lake at Tucson Electric Park.

"Knowing that it was most likely my last (Minor League) start, I wanted to walk away from today's game feeling confident with how I finished up the game," Johnson said. "I feel comfortable leaving here with what I have."

Although there's been no official word, it appears Johnson's next start will likely be in a D-backs uniform on Tuesday or Wednesday against San Diego. Recently demoted starter Dustin Nippert's name has already been tentatively marked down for Tucson's game Tuesday, the date Johnson would start next if he pitches on normal rest.

"All I was told to do was come down here and pitch and then we'll discuss it," Johnson said. "They haven't told me anything. I'll continue to work out with my trainer and throw at (Chase Field) and be prepared to pitch whenever they tell me."

After allowing six hits in the contest before recording an out in the third, Salt Lake's only baserunner off Johnson during the rest of his outing came on a two-out walk in the fourth. In all he threw 95 pitches -- 65 for strikes -- over six innings, allowing two earned runs and fanning seven against the one walk to pick up the win.

That's in contrast to his previous start when he struggled in his sixth and final inning, allowing a pair of runs to tie the game in that frame while laboring through 30 pitches.

"I thought he was a lot better than last time," Tucson manager Bill Plummer said. "He felt himself through the first inning or so, and then after that he got stronger and stronger as the ballgame went along. He really controlled the zone."

Johnson struggled early by allowing a run on two hits in each of the first two innings. After giving up singles to the first two Bees in the third, he got out of that inning unscathed, finishing it off with pair of strikeouts with a runner at third.

"It took me a little while to get in the flow of the game," Johnson said. "Then obviously as the game progressed, my location got much better, my mechanics got a lot better, and my pitch selection (got better). So I was very pleased with the last four innings that I threw."

Sidewinders pitching coach Mike Parrott attributed the 43-year-old Johnson's slow start to his back, on which he's recovering from offseason surgery.

Once he got going, Johnson mixed in more split-fingers than his previous outing in Tucson and topped out at 94 mph while consistently hitting 90.

Besides his nearly perfect final four innings and improved velocity, nothing could say more about how close Johnson is to returning to Phoenix than a sequence when a Salt Lake player tried to bunt on the five-time Cy Young Award winner only to get the familiar Johnson scowl.

"I thought he also had a real good intensity," Parrott said. "He was realizing that this is his last tuneup before he's going to maybe face the Padres. He was trying to get himself a little more fired up, a little more intensity out there. When that guy tried to bunt on him, he didn't like it too much."