SAN DIEGO — Randy Johnson threw nasty sliders and a few fastballs in the 95-96 mph range, hit a single and made a nice defensive play, bounding off the mound to field a chopper and throw out the runner.

Just like that, the Big Unit was back in the win column.

Johnson got his first victory since having back surgery in August, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-1 win over staggering San Diego last night. Johnson held the Padres' popgun offense to one run on three hits while striking out seven in six innings.

"My body felt good today," Johnson said. "I'm pleased."

Johnson's last win came on June 10 against Boston. He made one more start before his 2007 ended because of a sore back that required a second surgery in less than a year.

The 6-foot-10 lefty said he might have tried pushing a few things last year. He intends to go slow this year, even if it means missing a start here and there.

"This is the reason I'm playing, because I feel I can do these kind of games when I'm healthy," he said. "That's why I'm still playing because I still enjoy being competitive, I still enjoy going out and doing that. I'm 44 years old. I still enjoy going and grabbing a bat and trying to put the ball in play. I still enjoy the competition of trying to get a hitter out."

Johnson had a no-decision in his first start this season, at San Francisco, and lost to Randy Wolf and the Padres on Sunday, 9-4 at Phoenix.

Manager Bob Melvin said Johnson appears to be on a similar pace as last year.

"I know he feels pretty good," Melvin said.

The last-place Padres lost for the ninth time in 10 games. They're six games under .500 and 8 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks.

"Johnson had pretty good stuff tonight," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He threw the ball well."

The NL West-leading Diamondbacks jumped on Wolf for five runs in the third inning, which was highlighted by Mark Reynolds' three-run homer to straightaway center. The Diamondbacks scored as many runs that inning as the Padres had in their previous 55 innings at Petco Park. Chris Young doubled in a run and Orlando Hudson had an RBI single that inning.

BRAVES 6, METS 3

Jair Jurrjens (3-2) walked three consecutive batters with the bases loaded in the third inning, then got his first major league hit ahead of Kelly Johnson's tiebreaking, two-run homer to lead visiting Atlanta and manager Bobby Cox, who was ejected for the 136th time, extending his major league record.

Phillies 6, Pirates 5: Chris Coste had three hits and three RBIs, Jayson Werth hit his fourth home run in five games and had two RBIs, and visiting Philadelphia raced to a 6-0 lead against Zach Duke (0-2) after four innings en route to beating Pittsburgh for its fifth victory in six games.

NATIONALS 5, CUBS 3

Wil Nieves hit his first major league homer when he drove an 0-2 pitch from Chicago's Bob Howry (0-2) into the Washington bullpen in right field for a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Chicago.

MARLINS 3, BREWERS 0

Hanley Ramirez raced home on a 10th-inning grounder to short with the infield in to score the game's first run, Cody Ross added a sacrifice fly and Mike Rabelo had a run-scoring single to lift visiting Florida over Milwaukee.

GIANTS 3, REDS 1

Jonathan Sanchez (2-1) gave up a run on four hits — Brandon Phillips' pinch-hit homer leading off the ninth — in eight-plus inning and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts, and Bengie Molina drove in two runs to lead host San Francisco past Cincinnati.

ASTROS 3, CARDINALS 2

Miguel Tejada hit an RBI triple, Lance Berkman had a sacrifice fly and, with two outs, Carlos Lee blasted a solo homer to cap a three-run, top of the ninth-inning rally off Jason Isringhausen (1-2), helping Houston beat St. Louis for its sixth straight victory.

DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 7

Russell Martin capped a 4-for-4 night with a sacrifice fly to right to score Matt Kemp from third base with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift Los Angeles over Colorado.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 4, TIGERS 3

Vladimir Guerrero homered to spark a four-run fourth inning and Ervin Santana (4-0) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings as visiting Los Angeles ended Detroit's four-game winning streak.

INDIANS 6, YANKEES 4

Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer off Andy Pettitte (3-2) in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 4-3 lead and Cleveland won its fourth straight, beating New York in the Yankees' first visit since last year's AL playoffs when they were bombarded by swarming bugs.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 4

Carl Crawford singled to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning, stole second and scored when Nathan Haynes lined an 0-1 pitch from Mike Timlin (2-2) to right field to help Tampa Bay edge Boston for its fourth straight victory.

ROYALS 8, BLUE JAYS 4

John Buck doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs, and David DeJesus drove in two runs during a six-run bottom of the eighth inning to help Kansas City rally past Toronto and snap a seven-game losing streak.

RANGERS 6, TWINS 5

Hank Blalock hit a one-out double off Juan Rincon (2-1) in the bottom of the 10th, and with two outs and the outfield pulled in, David Murphy hit a fly ball to the warning track in left-center field to score Blalock as Texas snapped its seven-game losing streak.

ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 3

Dana Eveland (3-1) allowed six hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings, visiting Oakland scored three runs in the first, made it 4-1 in the third on Ryan Sweeney's sacrifice fly and held on to beat Seattle despite getting only three hits in the game.