There were two great pitcher's duels in the West last night. The first, in Seattle, lived up to its billing:

He spent a dozen hours in transit on Tuesday, Caracas to Dallas to Seattle. He had never been to the United States before. He did not plan to come for another week. But he could not miss this.

Felix Hernandez Sr. was among the sellout crowd of 46,240 at Safeco Field. Many here were like him, their plans changed by a 6-foot-10 left-hander named Randy Johnson, who along with Hernandez's son brought about the most anticipated night of Seattle baseball this summer.

Both pitchers delivered and Johnson ended up with the victory in a 2-0 Yankees win. Randy's now pitched 17 innings at Safeco without allowing a run. Hernandez gave up two solo home runs, his only mistakes. His home runs allowed have an interesting history:

He calmed soon afterward, but not enough to prevent a misfire against

New York's No. 9 hitter, Robinson Cano. Hernandez left a changeup high and over the plate. The rookie pulled it to right field, barely high enough to clear the wall.

It was the first hit Hernandez allowed Wednesday, but not the first of his troubles against young ninth-place batters. Cano's clout marked the third home run Hernandez allowed in six big-league starts. At that point, all had been hit by ninth-hitting rookies.

Sheffield homered later in the game to break that streak.

In Anaheim, the John Lackey outpitched Joe Blanton for a 2-1 Angels victory, cutting the Athletics lead to one game. Oakland out hit and out walked LAnaheim, but couldn't push the runners across. Blanton goes to 8-10 despite a 3.54 ERA.