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BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Mike Mussina pitched like a five-time Cy Young Award winner while Roger Clemens continues to baffle the New York Yankees. Mussina struck out 10 over seven brilliant innings and Clemens was unusually wild, walking five and hitting three others, as the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 5-0 victory over New York in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. The Yankees blew their first shot of the day to clinch their third American League Eastern Division title in four years. They can wrap up the crown with a victory in the nightcap or a loss byt the Boston Red Sox in Chicago. Mussina (18-7) took advantage of Durwood Merrill's wide strike zone to catch nine Yankees looking, including Darryl Strawberry three times and Tino Martinez twice. He walked only one batter and yielded five hits in winning his fifth straight decision. "We couldn't do much with Mussina," Yankees catcher Joe Girardi said. "He took advantage of it. He gets 18 wins a year like this." "Eighteen wiins is not bad," Mussina said. "I'll take 18. If I can get 18 every year, I can live with that." The righthander reached double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season and for the 20th time in his career. "He is one of the best pitchers in the game, not too many people know it," Orioles manager Ray Miller said. Clemens (14-10) struggled through the first two innings -- a double by Ryan Minor in the second scored the game's first run -- before falling apart during a disastrous third, when he walked the first three batters before striking out Calvin Pickering. But Charles Johnson blooped a single in front of left fielder Ricky Ledee and Clemens hit Jerry Hairston with the next pitch to force in another run. Ryan Minor's sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field made it 4-0. "Mentally it was so difficult to lock down and get the ball over the plate," Clemens said. "I made good pitches, but I had to slow my body down. The week, then the rainout yesterday, made my ball so alive." Clemens' performance puts Yankees manager Joe Torre in a precarious position as the playoffs approach. It has been widely rumored that either Clemens or Orlando Hernandez, who pitches in the nightcap, will take the mound in Game One of the Division Series on Tuesday. "He had no command today," Torre said. "You assume he will when you hand him the ball. We know what he can do. "Roger is not out of the mix (for No. 1 starter). It is something I feel. It is who he is and why we traded for him. I can't give you chapter and verse on it. It's something I feel." Clemens is 3-5 lifetime at Camden Yards, the only ballpark in the American League in which he has a losing record. The Yankees' best chance to get back into the game against Mussina came in the sixth when they put runners on first and third with one out. But Paul O'Neill swung at the first pitch he saw and bounced into a 4-6-3 double play. O'Neill has hit into a team-leading 24 double plays this season. Mike Bordick continued to add to his career-high RBI total in the bottom of the sixth with a double that scored rookie Eugene Kingsale with the game's final run. It was his 34th double of the year and 77th RBI. The game was a makeup of Wednesday night's rainout, but several of the Yankees were upset about the circumstances. The game was called at 7:30 p.m. EDT, 30 minutes after the scheduled start, because of a poor forecast, but it did not start raining in the city until after 10 p.m. EDT. A sparse crowd watched the division rivals play the game in a quick 2:36. New York is now one game behind the Cleveland Indians in the race for the AL's best record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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