"It did not matter that the climactic win came 3,000 miles from home. It did not matter that it came on a rainy weekday afternoon against a last-place team in an empty stadium.

History can still be made in such places. And Randy Johnson was ready for it on Thursday against the Nationals.

The San Francisco Giants' 45-year-old lefthander put an exclamation point on his brilliant 22-year career, pitching six solid innings in a 5-1 San Francisco victory to earn his 300th win.

Only 23 other pitchers in Major League Baseball history have won that many games. It is unlikely anyone will do so again soon. After the final out was recorded - a swing-and-a-miss strikeout by Nats catcher Wil Nieves - there was no great emotional outburst. Johnson simply stood up in the visitor's dugout and shook hands with his teammates as he has done 299 times before.

"This is kind of a longterm thing that has been going on for years," Johnson said. "You know that on this one day if the team plays well and you pitch well that something can happen that's only happened [23] other times. I'm actually more nervous now than I was pitching.""