Yankees’ Rocket Finds New Pad to His Liking

Roger Clemens had been through the routine before. Warm up in the bullpen, touch the Babe Ruth monument and take the mound at Yankee Stadium.

The Rocket just hadn’t done it in Yankee pinstripes.

Until Saturday, when he gave up three hits in 7 2/3 innings and struck out eight in a 5-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers at New York.

“It was very exciting going to work out there and to be able to walk off the home side of the field,” he said. “I felt very much at home.”

Clemens (1-0) was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Yankees in February for David Wells, Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush. Many fans were upset to lose Wells, whose perfect game and wild personality made him a cult hero, and especially for Clemens, who pitched 13 seasons for the rival Boston Red Sox and chose to sign with the Blue Jays instead of the Yankees after the 1996 season.

But he won the crowd over quickly. The fans gave him an ovation to start the game, then rose to their feet for each two-strike count. Silver rockets adorned the facade of the upper deck to mark each strikeout.

“I heard them every time I had two strikes, which is something I appreciate,” he said. “It puts pressure on the hitter and gets my adrenaline pumping.”

The Yankee offense was pumping too. Chili Davis and Scott Brosius homered for the second consecutive day, and Derek Jeter had a two-run triple in support of Clemens, who won his 16th consecutive decision, one short of the American League record.

The crowd of 42,058, the largest second-day crowd since the remodeled Yankee Stadium opened in 1976, gave Clemens a standing ovation when he left with two out in the eighth. Jeff Nelson finished with hitless relief.

“Clemens pretty much shut us down today,” Tiger Manager Larry Parrish said. “You hate to give them the World Series already, but they have an awfully good shot to do it again.”

Cleveland 12, Minnesota 7--Dwight Gooden failed to get out of the first inning, but it didn’t matter as the Indians pounded out 16 hits at Minneapolis.

Gooden, despite a 6-0 first-inning lead, lasted only 29 pitches, giving up five runs and five hits and getting only two outs.

The Twins tied the score in the fifth on a double by Matt Lawton and a triple by Doug Mientkiewicz but the Indians, who got three-run homers by Manny Ramirez and Richie Sexson in the first against Benj Sampson, went back ahead on Sandy Alomar’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly against Mike Lincoln (0-2).

The Indians added five runs in the eighth on Roberto Alomar’s run-scoring double against Eddie Guardado, Travis Fryman’s two-run double against Bob Wells and Sandy Alomar’s two-run double.

Boston 5, Tampa Bay 3--Pedro Martinez (2-0) gave up seven hits, struck out nine and walked one in seven innings at St. Petersburg, Fla., to help the Red Sox maintain their perfect record. They are 5-0 for the first time in 53 years.

Troy O’Leary doubled and homered to drive in three runs in his first two at-bats, giving Martinez all the offensive support he needed until the Devil Rays began the eighth inning with four consecutive hits to trim a five-run deficit to 5-3.

Jim Corsi replaced the Boston ace after Quinton McCracken broke up the shutout with a run-scoring double, and Dave Martinez followed with a two-run double. The next three batters--Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff and John Flaherty--were retired in order.

Tom Gordon worked the ninth to get his third save, extending his major league record for converting save opportunities to 46 in a row.

The Red Sox, 5-0 for the first time since 1946, haven’t opened the season with six consecutive victories since 1918, a club record they can match by completing a three-game sweep today.

Baltimore 1, Toronto 0--Mike Mussina halted a string of poor performances by Oriole starting pitchers, pitching seven shutout innings at Baltimore as the Orioles ended a three-game losing streak.

Mussina (2-0) outpitched Chris Carpenter, who was equally effective after the first inning, when Will Clark scored an unearned run on a triple by Albert Belle. Clark kicked the ball from the glove of catcher Mike Matheny, who was charged with an error.

Mussina gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked three, throwing 99 pitches. Arthur Rhodes gave up two hits in the eighth and Mike Timlin pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Baltimore starters had a 10.00 earned-run average in the first four games. That included Mussina, who gave up four runs in five innings on opening day against the Devil Rays, a 10-7 victory that was the Orioles’ lone win before Saturday.

Kansas City 9, Chicago 4--Rey Sanchez had four runs batted in and Jermaine Dye had four hits, both matching career highs for the Royals at Chicago.

Jaime Navarro, back in Chicago’s rotation after a 1 1/2-month stint in the bullpen at the end of last season, was pounded for seven runs before being replaced in the third inning.

Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the ninth, and rookie Carlos Beltran had three hits, one of them his first major league home run. Beltran and Mike Sweeney each drove in two runs for the Royals, who have won two in a row after being swept by the Red Sox in a three-game series.

Navarro (0-1), Chicago’s opening-day pitcher last year, was assigned to the bullpen last Aug. 15 but went 4-1 this spring as a starter. He was tagged for eight hits in 2 1/3 innings and walked two.