November 23, 2002 The Unit Does it Again ALLENTOWN, NJ - No BDBL team that ends the season with Randy Johnson on its roster has ever lost a BDBL World Series. Today, Johnson made every effort to continue that tradition, giving his team their third straight win after two straight losses, putting them one win away from their ultimate goal of a BDBL championship. Through 6 2/3 innings, Johnson allowed just two runs on five hits and five walks. He also struck out 15 Salem batters while throwing a whopping 131 pitches. The Allentown bullpen was absolutely suffocating, closing out the game with 2 1/3 innings of hitless, shutout relief. The Ridgebacks took a 2-0 lead in the third when three walks (two intentional) loaded the bases with two outs for Robert Fick. Fick, who has punished Salem pitching throughout this series, did it again, whacking a two-run single off Salem starter and leading OL Cy Young candidate Mike Mussina. In the sixth, Fick led off the inning with yet another base hit, then advanced to third on a single by the all-powerful Tyler Houston. With the top of the lineup coming up, and Mussina passing the 100-pitch mark, Salem called upon David Weathers to close out the inning. Instead, Weathers extended the inning by allowing back-to- back RBI singles to Mark Kotsay and Russ Johnson. Salem's last feeble effort came with two outs in the seventh inning, when little David Eckstein somehow managed to connect with a Johnson fastball and send it just barely over the fence in right. That cut Allentown's lead to 4-2. The Ridgebacks wasted no time getting one of those runs back, though, as Manny Ramirez connected off Chad Fox for a solo home run in the seventh. Allentown then added two more in the eighth on an RBI single by Edgar Martinez and a sac fly by Barry Bonds. "We've got our back against the wall now and no one to pitch for us in Game Six," said Salem manager Mike Glander. "I can hear the fat lady clearing her throat. No...wait, that's just Reuschel trying to choke down one of those sausages from our buffet."