KISSIMMEE, FLA. – The Yankees waited a long time to acquire Randy Johnson and send him to the mound. They’ll have to wait some more to see his best fastball.

The Big Unit finally made his much anticipated Yankees debut yesterday, working two innings in an 8-2 loss to Atlanta. He threw 36 pitches, 22 for strikes, and gave up a two-run homer to old nemesis Chipper Jones in an uneven performance.

“I know I still have a long way to go to be ready for opening day,” Johnson said. “But we’ll get there.”

Most important, he said he felt fine physically; Johnson was scratched from his first scheduled start last week because of a tight left calf. Facing the Braves for the first time since he pitched a perfect game against them last May, the five-time Cy Young Award winner struck out his first batter, Nick Green.

But Brian Jordan singled and Johnson fell behind 2-0 on Jones before he drove a 92 mph fastball over the left-field fence.

“It looked like his first spring outing,” said Jones, a .370 career hitter against Johnson with six homers in 27 at-bats. “I don’t think anybody in baseball expected him to come out blowing 97.”

The Yankees didn’t start pursuing Johnson last summer just to add a few wins during the regular season. No, they pushed to finally complete a drawn-out trade with Arizona in January because they needed an ace in the postseason. And that’s exactly why nobody sounded worried about the 41-year-old Johnson losing his first outing of spring training.

“Everything turned out fine. He got his work in,” Joe Torre said. “I’m not really concerned about statistics.”

Johnson retired Andruw Jones on a fly ball and struck out Raul Mondesi to end the first inning, then got through the second unscathed despite a two out walk. The 6-foot-10 left-hander hit 94 mph on the scoreboard radar gun but was mostly in the low 90s with his fastball.

Nearly two hours before the game, fans lined up four rows deep behind the Yanks’ dugout. Johnson, meanwhile, was sitting quietly in the clubhouse.

Mike Hampton looked fantastic again for Atlanta, yielding only a single in three shutout innings. He got Derek Jeter on a called third strike and recorded five groundouts. Coming off left knee surgery, Hampton opened the spring with two hitless innings against the Dodgers last week.

Jones added a double and scored twice. Jordan finished with two hits, including an RBI single, and is 7-for-10 this spring.

Yankees reliever Paul Quantrill was tagged for three runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings. Tom Gordon threw a scoreless eighth.