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Rarified air Clemens moves to 16-1 as Yankees beat up on Rays
Updated: Thursday August 16, 2001 12:53 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- For the first time in 32 years, a major league pitcher has a record of 16-1. Roger Clemens improved upon the best season of his career, record-wise, by allowing only four hits in seven innings to lead the New York Yankees past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-3 Wednesday night. Improving to 10-0 at Yankee Stadium and 7-0 in night games, Clemens had just one difficult inning in winning his 12th consecutive decision. He is the sixth major leaguer since 1900 to start 16-1, the first since Dave McNally did it for the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 -- a fact which came as news to the 39-year-old. "I don't know the history behind it, and I don't think it matters unless we get to where we want to be -- staying in first place and reaching our goals," he said. "It makes all the work I do seem to pay off." Clemens struck out the leadoff hitter five times and finished with eight strikeouts as the Yankees increased their AL East lead over Boston to five games -- matching their largest of the season. Clemens is the sixth pitcher in modern major league history to post a record of 16-1.
"He certainly has been leading this staff all year. He hasn't had a bad start yet," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. Clay Bellinger hit a three-run homer and a solo shot. Derek Jeter added a pair of doubles and a home run as the Yankees scored twice in the first, once in the second and twice in the third against Paul Wilson (5-8) to give Clemens a comfortable lead. Clemens did not allow a hit until the fifth inning -- the one frame when he encountered trouble. Tampa Bay sent eight batters to the plate and scored twice on a bases-loaded single by Chris Gomez before Clemens retired Brent Abernathy on a grounder to shortstop to leave the bases full. The 39-year-old right-hander then retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh, and Torre elected to turn the ball over to reliever Mark Wohlers after the Yankees scored five runs in the seventh for a 10-2 lead. Clemens admitted that he realized he was working on a no-hitter when the fifth inning began. "I knew it, but I really didn't think about it. I've taken them into the eighth and ninth inning before, and that's when it would have been something to be careful with," Clemens said. Jeter and Paul O'Neill had back-to-back doubles in the first, each of them stretching long singles into doubles purely through hustle. Jorge Posada drove in New York's second run with a sacrifice fly, then brought home another run in the third with an RBI double. Bellinger's three-run homer in the seventh knocked out Wilson, who allowed seven hits, seven earned runs and seven walks. "It was a good ballgame until that three-run homer. That killed me," Wilson said. "At 5-2 we had a chance; 8-2 we didn't." It was the first multihomer game of Bellinger's major-league career. Jeter followed with a solo homer, his 15th, off Bobby Seay.
Notes: The crowd let out a collective groan when the official scorer awarded Toby Hall a base hit with one out in the fifth, ending Clemens' chance for a no-hitter. Hall hit a slow roller toward third that Bellinger unsuccessfully tried to field with his bare hand. Four batters later, Gomez ripped a clean single to center. ... Clemens is 25-3 since coming off the DL in July 2000. ... Torre described the eventual return of Orlando Hernandez to the rotation as crucial. "Our signature is pitching, and if he comes back and is able to be himself it takes pressure off the other three guys (Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte)." Hernandez, out since May 26 because of toe surgery, will make a rehab start Thursday. "He hasn't been competitive all year, but he has a lot left in the tank arm-wise," Torre said. ... Wilson threw a season-high 131 pitches. ... Posada struck out twice in the seventh as the Yankees sent 10 batters to the plate. ... New York, 10-2 against the Devil Rays, is a combined 21-4 against Baltimore and Tampa Bay, the bottom two teams in the AL East.
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