Arizona seal second win

Randy Johnson proved he still has it at 38 years old

Game two:
Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 New York Yankees

Arizona's fantastic start to the 97th World Series continued on Sunday with another convincing win over the Yankees on Sunday.

Randy Johnson struck out 11 and pitched a three-hit shut-out while Matt Williams slammed a three-run homer for the home side.

Left-hander Johnson, who is a three-time Cy Young pitching award winner, made a masterful Series debut.

The 38-year-old pitched the first complete-game Series shut-out since 1993.

"He was terrific. He lived up to what he's supposed to be," said Yankees manager Joe Torre.

It's no trip to the beach going into Yankee Stadium

Bob Brenly
Arizona manager

"The axiom has never changed - good pitching stops good hitting. And that's what we've seen."

The Diamondbacks, who won the opener 9-1 on Saturday, now have a 2-0 lead in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final.

The teams will travel to New York for the next game on Tuesday, but Arizona manager Bob Brenly is not taking anything for granted.

"It's no trip to the beach going into Yankee Stadium," he said.

Johnson, in lethal pitching form, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and faced just three more batters than the minimum and walked only one.

The Diamondbacks edged ahead in the second inning with a run from Reggie Sanders.

Williams sent the Diamondbacks soaring ahead

Sanders led off with an infield single and Danny Bautista lined a double into the right-centre gap, scoring Sanders from first.

But it was in the bottom of the seventh when the home team pulled away with a three-run homer from Williams.

The Arizona third baseman became the first man to hit World Series home runs for three different teams.

He also did it for the San Francisco Giants in 1989 and for the Cleveland Indians in 1997, but he still does not have a World Series ring.

But it was a disappointing moment for Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte, who had given up only three hits and one run until then.

Record start

It is the first time that the Yankees have lost two World Series games in a row since facing the Atlanta Braves in 1996.

It is also the first time in five years that the three-time defending champions have been blanked in baseball's main event.

That was when Atlanta's Gregg Maddux pitched a 4-0 shut-out at Yankee Stadium in game two.

They came back to take that series and embark on a run which has seen them win four of the past five championships.

But Arizona, in their first Fall Classic in just their fourth year of existence, know that only two wins stands between them and ultimate victory.