OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Randy Johnson eluded a flying bat, and then survived an even greater peril when the beleaguered Arizona bullpen finally managed to protect a lead.

Johnson struck out 13 and the Diamondbacks, who blew late-inning leads while losing the first two games of the series in extra innings, defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-2 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

	Randy Johnson heads into the All-Star break leading the NL in wins, ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (198).

Johnson (14-2), who allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings, heads into the All-Star break leading the NL in wins, ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (198). It is the best pre-break record of his career, topping the 12-2 mark and 2.20 ERA in 1997.

Johnson, who attended high school in nearby Livermore, said pitching in Oakland still is special.

"This is the most exciting park for me to pitch in, because I came here when I was younger and watched the A's play," he said. "I still consider this home."

Johnson, 21-3 in his last 31 regular-season starts, recorded his 13th game with 10 or more strikeouts this year. He has 138 such games overall, trailing only Nolan Ryan's 215.

Johnson gave up a two-run single to Matt Stairs in the fourth and got out of the fifth when Jason Giambi's liner was snared by second baseman Jay Bell with two outs and a runner on second.

"With Johnson, you just try to not get caught up in the fact it seems like he's five feet away from you. He's awesome to watch," Stairs said. "He just made one bad pitch today, the slider he left up for me."

In the second inning, Ben Grieve's bat shattered as he grounded to second. The barrel flew close to Johnson, causing the lanky pitcher to flinch.

By pitching seven innings, Johnson took some pressure off the bullpen. The Diamondbacks blew saves the previous two nights, wasting a 7-2 eighth-inning lead Saturday.

Mike Morgan pitched the eighth and walked Miguel Tejada to start the ninth. Mantei then struck out three straight to end the game.

"We got into their bullpen," A's manager Art Howe said, "but their bullpen did the job today."

Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter said Johnson didn't want to come out of the game, but he made the move with the future in mind. Johnson had already thrown 122 pitches when he left.

"I know that if Randy Johnson is not a part of this pitching staff the last 75 games, we're going to have a tough time," Showalter said.

Steve Finley, named an injury replacement to the NL All-Star team earlier in the day, led off the seventh with his 25th homer. The Diamondbacks scored two in the second on an RBI double by Travis Lee and a run-scoring single by Tony Womack.

Gil Heredia (9-7), who allowed four runs on 11 hits in six innings, lost his third straight decision for Oakland -- which heads into the All-Star break having lost eight of 11.

Game notes
Johnson is 94-26 with 18 no-decisions in games when he has struck out at least 10. ... The Diamondbacks went 4-2 on a trip that began with a three-game sweep at Houston. ... Arizona's Damian Miller, who began 0-for-18 against Oakland, went 2-for-4. ... One day after drawing the largest baseball crowd (54,268) in Oakland Coliseum history, the A's had a crowd of 25,516 Sunday. ... Heredia is 2-6 at home this season. ... Johnson tied his season high for strikeouts. He has had 13 in five games this year. ... Stairs, who went 1-for-3 against Johnson, is 7-for-13 (.538) career against the left-hander.