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  Saturday, Mar. 25 1:15pm ET
New York 7, Florida 5
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ Roger Clemens will wrap up spring training at home.

After Clemens allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings of the New York Yankees' 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins on Saturday, the Yankees announced that the Houston-area resident will start the inaugural game at the Astros' new Enron Field on Thursday.

``I'm excited for Houston,'' said Clemens, who lives in nearby Katy. ``I hope it does for our downtown what it has done for the other downtowns like Baltimore and Cleveland. There's a lot of new businesses down there, so I hope it's fresh and exciting for people to go down there and hangout.''

Jorge Posada's two-run double in the sixth-inning broke a 5-5 tie for the Yankees. Derek Jeter hit his fourth homer of the spring, a three-run shot in the third inning.

Mark Kotsay hit a solo homer in the second inning, snapping the Marlins' 20-inning scoreless streak.

Clemens had problems with his forkball early, and the Marlins capitalized by taking a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Kevin Millar had an RBI single and Preston Wilson hit a two-run single.

``My forkball was just really a BP fastball,'' Clemens said. ``It was tumbling. We went back to it in the fourth and fifth innings, and I was able to throw a few good ones.''

Clemens is in the final year of his contract and said he hasn't heard anything about an extension.

``I haven't agreed to anything or signed anything,'' said Clemens, who hopes to end his career with the Yankees. ``I don't know that talks are that serious at this point.''

It was widely assumed that Clemens' agents wouldn't have agreed to the February 1999 trade involving the five-time Cy Young Award without an understanding of what an extension would entail.

After Jeter's homer got the Yankees within one, Mike Redmond's fourth-inning sacrifice fly put the Marlins ahead 5-3.

New York tied it at 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth on Jim Leyritz's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Posada.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera picked up the save, striking out three and walking one in the ninth.

Florida starter Ryan Dempster gave up seven run and nine hits in six innings. The Marlins have been outscored 42-5 the past three games.

Notes: The Yankees named RHP Orlando Hernandez as the opening day starter April 3 at Anaheim. RHP David Cone will start the home opener April 11 against Texas. ... Florida SS Alex Gonzalez has bronchitis and did not make the trip. ... New York gave INF Rafael Bournigal his unconditional release and sent OF Ryan Thompson to its minor league camp. ... Yankees LHP Ed Yarnall, who lost his frontrunner status for the No. 5 starter spot after allowing 21 runs in six innings, will pitch against Minnesota on Sunday. The other contender, Ramiro Mendoza, will face Tampa Bay on Monday night.

 


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