Yankees 9 Tigers 1
After spending most of the season tinkering with a motor that was flooded with diseased gas, the Yankees are working with a tank of high-octane Rocket fuel.
With Roger Clemens on the best roll of his Yankee career, the Yankees appear to have finally hit their stride.
Since returning from the disabled list, Clemens has been the pitcher the Yankees believed they were getting from the Blue Jays.
He showed flashes last year and his battle earlier this year with Pedro Martinez was one for the ages. Still, never before as a Yankee has Clemens won four straight starts.
Since his massive legs are healthy, Clemens no longer feels a need to paint every pitch on the black and stay away from the bats. Now, there is enough confidence in a fastball that remains among the best in the game to throw it by hitters early in the count.
Proof of that flowed from Tigers’ catcher Brad Ausmus after Clemens beat the Tigers, 9-1, last night in front of 32,420 at Yankee Stadium.
“I thought his ball was exploding,” Ausmus said. “During my first few at-bats, the first couple of pitches just exploded. I am no Mark McGwire but I have seen enough fastballs hitting and receiving to notice a difference. It amazes me that he can still throw that hard.”
Armed with a 6-0 lead after three innings thanks to Paul O’Neill’s two-run homer, Derek Jeter’s three-run triple and Jorge Posada’s RBI single to right, Clemens upped his record to 8-6 and atoned for a miserable performance against the Tigers on May 12 when they spanked him for six runs and 10 hits in 42/3 innings in a 9-7 Tiger win at Comerica Park.
So why has Clemens come off the DL with a 4-0 record and a 1.84 ERA? That depends who you ask.
Joe Torre says he is more aggressive and that talking with George Steinbrenner in Tampa while on the DL played a big part. Clemens points to being healthy. Posada reports Clemens’ location has been flawless. Put them all together and you probably have the answer.
“George is probably responsible for this. George has a way of getting his point across,” said Torre, whose club has quietly won 12 of 17 and sits atop the AL East by 1½ games. “Some times when you hear certain things from your coaches or your managers, because you are always trying to motivate, George has a different way to motivate you and it has obviously helped in this regard.”
Clemens refused to get into deep details about what he and The Boss talked about in the Tampa workout room while he was strengthening a strained right groin.
“We had discussions many times and I am not opposed to listening,” said Clemens, who fanned 11. “But the big difference is when you have your health.”
It was the 96th time in Clemens’ Hall of Fame career that he has reached double digits in strikeouts. Sandy Koufax is the third on the all-time list with 97.
Career victory No. 255 moved Clemens into 35th place among the all-time win leaders as he passed Hall of Famer Red Faber and former Tiger great Jack Morris.
“Give credit to our hitters, they did the work,” Clemens said of the lineup that rocked Hideo Nomo for six runs and six hits in 22/3 innings. “Our guys came out hitting.”
O’Neill crushed a 2-0 pitch three-quarters of the way up the right-field bleachers with Jeter on first in the first inning for a 2-0 cushion. Jeter, who started the night in a 7-for-29 (.241) mini-slide, ripped a three-run triple in the second and David Justice added a two-run bomb to right in the fourth off Nelson Cruz.
All that was left for Clemens was make sure he didn’t let the Tigers crawl back in it.
“You want to make it stand up,” said Clemens, who gave up Bobby Higginson’s 19th homer in the fourth and nothing else.
Clemens, who wasn’t hurt when he took Hal Morris’ bullet off the top of his right foot to end the fourth, gave a huge dose of credit to Posada for the way he handled the pitcher’s heavy fastball.
“I threw a lot of low strikes and he was able to hold them right at the knees for strikes,” said Clemens, who recorded six Ks looking. “A lot of catchers, I call it wind-shield-wipers, they carry the ball out of the [strike] zone.”
