Unit impressive as D-backs top Pirates

Try telling the Pittsburgh Pirates that Randy Johnson is 43 years old. Johnson, rounding into shape following offseason back surgery, struck out 10 in 5 2-3 innings to win his second start in a row and pitch the Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory over the Pirates on Sunday.

Johnson (2-2), often resembling the dominating pitcher he was while winning five Cy Young Awards, was lifted after throwing 102 pitches. He gave up two runs and seven hits. He has struck out 19 in 11 2-3 innings over his last two starts, fanning the Pirates' No. 3-6 hitters a combined seven times. Jason Bay struck out three times and Ryan Doumit and Adam LaRoche twice each.

By beating the Rockies and Pirates in his last two starts, Johnson has 282 career victories _ leaving him one short of tying Jim Kaat for 29th place on baseball's career list and 18 short of No. 300.

Both Pirates runs against Johnson were created by Jose Bautista and Xavier Nady. Nady's double drove in a run in the first after Bautista singled and stole second. Bautista doubled and scored on Nady's single in the sixth, before Tony Pena replaced Johnson with two down. He got the next four outs.

Jose Valverde, coming off a four-pitch save on Saturday night, pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 17 opportunities, third in four games and second in 19 hours. Brandon Lyon preceded him with a scoreless eighth.

A night after rallying from six runs down for a 9-8 victory that helped them out of their May hitting slump, the Diamondbacks jumped on Pirates starter Paul Maholm (2-6) for a 5-1 lead by the fourth.

Chris Snyder, with only one hit in 17 at-bats, singled and scored on Conor Jackson's single during a two-run second. An inning later, rookie Mark Reynolds singled for his fourth hit in two games ahead of walks by Maholm to Scott Hairston and Carlos Quentin and Snyder's three-run double _ only his second extra-base hit in 13 games this month.

That was a theme _ an Arizona hitter coming out of a slump _ throughout the three-game series in which the Diamondbacks won twice. Quentin was 1-for-21 on the club's nine-game road trip until his two-run single decided Saturday night's game. And Jackson was hitless in his previous three games until he homered and had two hits on Saturday.

Maholm gave up five runs, four earned, and eight hits in five innings and has permitted four runs or more in five of seven starts.

Notes:@ Johnson gave up one hit and struck out nine in beating Colorado 3-0 on Tuesday. ... Johnson is 9-5 against the Pirates but was 0-2 in PNC Park until Sunday. ... The Pirates went 4-6 on their homestand, while the Diamondbacks were 5-4 on their road trip. ... Maholm has lost five of seven decisions. ... LaRoche was 9-for-21 in his previous six games before going 0-for-4.