Johnson sharp in return

Randy Johnson wasn't sure how he was going to pitch in his first start in a week. The rested Big Unit ended up surprising himself.

Johnson tossed seven shutout innings, Jason Giambi homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, last night in New York.

Johnson (9-6) allowed four hits, struck out a season-high nine, and didn't walk a batter. He was pitching on six days' rest after serving a five-game suspension for throwing at Cleveland's Eduardo Perez June 14.

``Being under house arrest for it seemed like forever, it was nice to get back out there and pitch," Johnson said, ``But to be honest with you, [I was] pleasantly surprised to be in command as much as I was with all my pitches."

Johnson didn't allow a runner past first base until Edgar Renteria went to third on Chipper Jones's two-out single in the sixth.

The lefthander then struck out Andruw Jones to get out of the inning. Johnson recorded seven strikeouts in his last three innings. It was his first start against the Braves since he threw a perfect game for Arizona in a 2-0 win at Atlanta May 18, 2004.

``I know he had a lot of rest between starts," Braves manager Bobby Cox said of Johnson. ``It looked like it. When his slider is right, you can't hit it -- you just can't hit it."

Derek Jeter scored two runs on his 32d birthday and Andy Phillips had three hits for the Yankees, who have won five of six. Mariano Rivera got the last two outs for his 17th save in 19 chances.

New York scored five runs in the first two innings against Tim Hudson (6-7), who lost his third consecutive start. Jeter singled with two outs in the first and Giambi followed with a drive to right. Giambi hit a three-run homer with two outs in the second to make it 5-0.

Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth for Atlanta.

Indians 10, Cardinals 3 -- Cliff Lee (7-5) worked six strong innings to keep his perfect interleague record intact and visiting Cleveland got two home runs from Travis Hafner.

Lee, who gave up two runs and eight hits, is 6-0 against the NL. Jhonny Peralta hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the fifth for the Indians, who also got homers from Grady Sizemore and Todd Hollandsworth.

Brewers 6, Cubs 0 -- In the lone non-interleague game, Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer, Chris Capuano (9-4) won his fourth consecutive decision, and Milwaukee handed Chicago its eighth straight home loss.

Capuano left in the ninth after being hit on the right forearm by an Aramis Ramirez line drive. The team said he had a bruise and would be evaluated today.

Twins 8, Dodgers 2 -- Joe Mauer had four hits and a career-best five RBIs as host Minnesota rolled to its fifth straight win.

Tigers 10, Astros 4 -- Ivan Rodriguez's two-run double highlighted host Detroit's five-run third, and the catcher added a solo homer off Wandy Rodriguez (8-5) in the seventh for the Tigers.

Angels 5, Rockies 4 -- Host Los Angeles rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth, with Mike Napoli supplying a two-run double.

Marlins 8, Devil Rays 5 -- At Miami, Josh Johnson (7-4) rebounded after a rocky start and Florida received two RBIs each from Cody Ross, Josh Willingham, Mike Jacobs, and Jeremy Hermida.