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Friday, Jul. 14 7:05pm ET
Clemens drilled, but comes out hot | |||||
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK _ The only one who got hit by a fastball Friday night was Roger Clemens. Clemens, pitching for the first time since beaning Mike Piazza, kept in control after being drilled by a line drive as the New York Yankees beat the Florida Marlins 6-2. Clemens' right forearm was swollen and bandaged after Paul Bako's liner got him in the fourth inning. There was no visible effect, however, from what happened with Piazza. "That's history. I'd rather not talk about that," Clemens said. "I felt awful about it. But my skin's pretty thick." Clemens came close to just one Marlins batter in winning his third consecutive start. In the opening inning, he backed away Preston Wilson with a waist-high fastball. Wilson wound up walking in that at-bat, and hit a two-run homer his next time up. "I don't know that I've been doing enough, as far as pitching inside," Clemens said. "But you have to pitch inside to be successful." Bernie Williams and David Justice hit consecutive home runs in the first inning off All-Star Ryan Dempster and Ryan Thompson later connected for a three-run shot. The Marlins had won three in a row. Clemens (7-6) had been caught in a swirl of controversy since hitting Piazza in the helmet with a fastball last Saturday night, giving the Mets catcher a concussion and knocking him out of the final two games of the Subway Series and the All-Star Game. Piazza and the Mets claimed it was intentional, Clemens and the Yankees insisted it was an accident. Either way, the Rocket had been portrayed by many "like he was some kind of ogre," New York manager Joe Torre said. "Today, I thought he was a little anxious going out there. Some of that may have been an effect of what happened," Torre said. "I was glad to see what I saw out there." Clemens pitched seven innings and gave up seven hits, striking out four and walking three. He has won three in a row for the first time since last season. "There wasn't anything that Roger did tonight that would've raised any comment," Marlins manager John Boles said. "I was hoping he would pitch inside, rather than get ahead in the count and get us out with the split finger," he said, adding with a smile, "I was going to charge the mound, that's what I was upset about." Clemens is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA since coming off the disabled list after being sidelined by a strained groin. His 254th victory moved him into a tie with Jack Morris and Red Faber for 35th place on the career list. The Yankees won without second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who was listed as day-to-day with a bruised left wrist and thumb after being hit by a line drive Thursday night. His replacement, Jose Vizcaino, got his 1,000th career hit. Dempster (9-6), who was selected for the All-Star Game but did not pitch, was tagged for six runs in six innings. In his only other start at Yankee Stadium, he gave up three homers in 4 2/3 innings in a 1998 loss. Williams hit a two-run homer, his 20th, and Justice followed with his 23rd for a 3-0 lead in the first. Thompson, promoted from the minors Thursday, connected in the fourth for his first big-league homer since last Sept. 7 with Houston. After the game, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner put his arm around Thompson in the clubhouse. "Glad you're here," Steinbrenner told him. Wilson hit his 20th home run in the third. In the fourth, the Marlins thought they had scored the tying run when Clemens seemingly balked with a runner on third base, but it was ruled that time had been called. Luis Castillo stole two bases in the first for Florida, giving him a major league-leading 38. The Marlins swiped four in all, and top the majors with 100. Game notesFormer Yankees captain Don Mattingly will take part in his first Old-Timers Day game Saturday. ... Castillo has seven multi-steal games this year. ... Denny Neagle, acquired Wednesday from Cincinnati, joined the Yankees. He will pitch Monday night at home against Philadelphia. ... The Marlins are 38-25 overall in interleague play, the best record in the majors. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Florida Clubhouse NY Yankees Clubhouse RECAPS NY Mets 6 Boston 4
NY Yankees 6 AUDIO/VIDEO   Roger Clemens gets the win with a little help from his friends.wav: 150 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 After all the hoopla from last week's series, Joe Torre was pleased with Roger's performance.wav: 169 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||