TAMPA, Fla. - Calling it the "same old story," Randy Johnson struggled with his mechanics in his spring-training debut yesterday, just as he did for most of last season.

Too often, his shoulder flew open in his delivery, messing up his arm angle and robbing his slider of its dip, but Johnson wasn't too bothered. The workaholic stressed the positive, saying he's happy he got three innings in and laughing off his mistakes.

Johnson allowed three runs, three hits and one walk in the Yankees' 4-1 loss to the Reds, including a home run, double and three RBIs to previously unknown Edwin Encarnacion.

"Who is that kid?" Johnson said, laughing. "... I knew who Juan Encarnacion was. He played with Cincinnati and Florida. Maybe that's his brother or his cousin?"

No, there's no relationship between the Encarnacions, and Johnson certainly hopes there will be none between his mechanical woes yesterday and what's to come.

He attributed his struggles to the additional dose of adrenaline that comes with pitching for the first time in spring training and said catcher Jorge Posada helped him.

"He saw a lot of the things that you don't see as a pitcher out there," he said.

Posada, who is intent on building a better working relationship with Johnson, went to the mound twice to tell Johnson about mechanical problems.

"I was really paying attention from the stretch," Posada said. "He was opening a little and I was trying to make him stay back and closed, especially his front shoulder."

Encarnacion turned on a 1-and-2 fastball for a two-run shot to leftfield in the first, a pitch that Johnson left over the plate instead of up and in.

In the third, Encarnacion lined a double into the leftfield corner on a "splitter that didn't die down," Johnson said.