Francisco Rodriguez, the 20-year-old right-hander who made his major league debut in late September, struck out two on wicked sliders in the eighth.

Wagner then struck out Dan Uggla on two wicked sliders.

He had ripped off a wicked slider for strike two, but when he tried to throw another, he missed his location badly.

No one has such a wicked slider to go with it.

Johnson has won 269 games, largely on two pitches: a wicked slider and a fastball approaching 100 miles an hour.

Perhaps it was the 95-mile-an-hour fastball, the wicked slider or the tattoo of a flaming baseball on his left biceps.

And they had been viewing his fangs as Halloween knockoffs when his wicked slider lost movement and monstrosity.

He struck out Adam LaRoche on a wicked slider.

Francisco Rodriguez, a 20-year-old right-hander with a sizzling fastball and wicked slider, worked three perfect innings for his fifth postseason victory.

He has basically been doing the same thing since, fooling hitters with a wicked slider from an unusual angle.