Clemens Earns Win in Return to the Yankees

Jun 09, 07:15 PM

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Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Roger Clemens made his much anticipated 2007 debut and pitched six innings as the New York Yankees downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Clemens (1-0) struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on five hits. He threw a total of 108 pitches, 69 for strikes.

"It was great to be back," said Clemens. "Health wise I did what I expected. Now I can settle into a routine and be in one place at a time. There was good energy here and the guys played great. I expect to get stronger with each start I have. I'll sleep a little better tonight and come back to work tomorrow."

Clemens was initially slated to start this past Monday against the White Sox, but he developed a fatigued groin during his final minor league outing on Memorial Day and an MRI exam revealed disrupted scar tissue.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner made three minor league starts to ready himself for a return to the majors. He signed a prorated $28 million contract on May 6 to begin a second tenure with the Yankees.

Clemens spent the past three seasons with the Houston Astros after his first retirement following the 2003 campaign with New York. He pitched with the Yankees from 1999 through 2003, winning a pair of World Series titles during his five years with the club.

An 11-time All-Star, Clemens' 349 victories rank eighth in big league history. He is also one of just four pitchers with more than 4,000 strikeouts, as his 4,611 trails only Nolan Ryan on the all-time list.

Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs while Johnny Damon went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Yankees, who are on a season-high five-game winning streak.

"We're playing well right now and feeling pretty good about ourselves," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "I think with Roger going out there we felt we were gonna do anything we could to help him. The players were really upbeat today and part of that was Roger, but a lot of it was how we're feeling about ourselves right now."

Jack Wilson hit a two-run double and Paul Maholm (2-9) lost his fifth straight decision as he was charged with five runs -- three earned -- on six hits in 5 1/3 innings of work for the Pirates, who have dropped three of their last four games.

"I thought we did an adequate job taking the kind of at-bats we'd like to see against him," said Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy about his teams performance against Clemens. "We didn't give him too many easy outs. To his credit, when he needed outs he got them."

The scored was tied in the fifth, but the Yankees grabbed the lead in the frame with one run. Derek Jeter led off with a walk, Bobby Abreu followed with a single and Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Jorge Posada's sacrifice fly to right scored Jeter to make it a 4-3 game.

In his last inning of work in the sixth, Clemens retired the Pirates in order, striking out the final two batters. Also, he retired the final seven batters he faced.

"Overall it was a good win and a good day for him," said Torre about Clemens' performance. "He wasn't as sharp as he could be. In the last inning he was looking like he wasn't throwing hard, he just tried to make pitches. We wanted to commit to 100 pitches or at least five innings and we got that. That was enough for the day."

New York padded its lead in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. After Melky Cabrera worked a one-out walk, John Grabow entered the game. Damon beat out an infield single and Jeter walked to load the bases. Abreu followed with a single to right to score Cabrera and a sacrifice fly from Rodriguez scored Damon to make it a 6-3 game.

The Yankees plated another two runners in the seventh for an 8-3 lead. Tony Armas started the inning on the mound and Robinson Cano led off the frame with a double. Miguel Cairo failed in his sacrifice attempt as he fouled out his bunt attempt, but Cabrera followed with a single to left to score Cano. Cabrera made it to third on the play as Jason Bay was charged with a throwing error. Damon's fielder's choice then scored Cabrera for the five-run lead.

Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly in the eighth scored Abreu to make it a 9-3 contest.

Luis Vizcaino retired the Pirates in the ninth to close the game.

It was a rough start to the game for Clemens as he gave up a run in the first inning and Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead. Jose Bautista led off with a single and, after Freddy Sanchez flied out, he advanced to second with Bay at the plate on a wild pitch. Clemens got Bay to strike out, but Adam LaRoche punched a single to center to score Bautista. Clemens then got Xavier Nady to strike out and end the inning.

The Yankees answered in the bottom of the first with three runs to grab the lead. Damon led off with a single and moved to third on a Jeter double. Abreu then grounded out to the pitcher, but Rodriguez followed with a ground out to deep third to plate Damon. Posada followed with a single to left to score Jeter and moved to second on an error from Ronny Paulino. Matsui worked a walk and Cano punched a single to left to score Posada for a 3-1 lead.

The Pirates leadoff hitter got to base in the second and third innings, but Clemens kept Pittsburgh from getting on the board.

Pittsburgh, though, tied the game in the fourth with a pair of runs. Nady punched a one-out single to center and, after Ryan Doumit struck out, Paulino worked a walk. Wilson then nailed a double to right to plate Nady and Paulino to make it a 3-3 game.

Game Notes

To make room for Clemens, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre before the game, the Yankees optioned pitcher Chris Britton to Scranton. Also, New York transferred pitcher Phil Hughes from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list...Before the game, the Pirates placed pitcher Salomon Torres on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of pitcher Masumi Kuwata from Triple-A Indianapolis...Clemens is 6-1 in nine appearances against the Pirates...Rodriguez has 58 RBI on the season...Abreu has a nine-game hit streak and is 15-for-34 over that stretch with a .441 hitting average...The Yankees are a major league best 106-73 in interleague play...Pittsburgh is 52-86 in interleague play...Sanchez finished 0-for-4 and had a nine-game hitting streak ended. Also, he had a 13-game road hitting streak stopped...The Yankees stole five bases in the game, a season-high.

06/09 18:31:45 ET