Why, who was that looking all vintage-2012 All-Star?

Ryan Cook blew through two innings of work Friday against Boston, striking out three, and his delivery looked smooth, powerful ... the Ryan Cook of old, or at least of not too long ago.

That's the result of several days of fixing some things. After allowing two runs against Texas last week, Cook sat down with pitching coach Curt Young and they went over video of his delivery in 2012 and '13 and realized that his setup had changed, throwing things off right from the get-go.

After some intense sessions of work, Cook felt immensely better. "It was immediate," he said. "I can't believe I let it go so far. Obviously it had a trickle-down effect; it changed my posture throughout my delivery. Now I have back the deception I've always had. Things got a little haywire."

Cook was eager to take all the work he'd done all week into a game, and he and Young were even more excited to see the results - fixing his setup got Cook back into the right position to succeed.

"He was getting swings, he was getting ahead in the count, and he was putting guys away," Young said.

Johnson's night: Jim Johnson also threw an important scoreless inning in a tie game Friday. He gave up two hits and a walk but didn't allow a run, and he seems to be gaining in fan support. Johnson, often booed the first two months of the season, was greeted with a much more positive response when he entered the game.

"No doubt about it," Cook said. "I noticed that people were on their feet. The guy is an amazing pitcher and we all go through tough patches, shoot, and it's a lot easier when your fans are understanding. We have a special bond with our fans here, and for them to come back around about Jim is really cool."

Johnson has said that getting booed doesn't bother him, but he was upset that his wife, Elizabeth, was subjected to boos and insults while helping at a charity food drive Wednesday at the Coliseum.

"You buy your ticket, fine, you can say what you want to me," Johnson said, "but there are some lines you don't cross, and that's one of them. I didn't appreciate that, and she wouldn't even tell me everything that was said."

On deck Sunday vs. Red Sox 1:05 p.m. CSNCA Lester (8-7) vs. Milone (5-3) Monday Off Tuesday at Mets 4:10 p.m. CSNCA Kazmir (9-2) vs. Colon (7-5)