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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) – Roger Clemens turned back the clock Sunday and
passed Gaylord Perry in the process.
|  | | Roger Clemens reaches another milestone on the 15th anniversary of his first 20-strikeout game. |
Clemens, pitching on the 15th anniversary of his first
20-strikeout game, struck out five in 7 1-3 innings to move ahead
of Perry into sixth place on the career list as the New York
Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 to complete a three-game
sweep.
Clemens (3-0) got his 3,535th career strikeout when he fanned
Jeremy Giambi in the seventh.
"It was a good feeling when I got that last one," Clemens
said. "At this stage of my career, I feel very fortunate."
The Rocket flashed his fastball throughout, but used sliders to
get his last two strikeouts.
"My velocity is just as good as it was then," said the
38-year-old right-hander. "It's what I do behind the scenes and
all the time I put in."
Clemens received a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium
crowd and had the ball taken out of play after his last strikeout
of the game, as he did after tying Perry by striking out the
previous batter, Miguel Tejada.
"That's why I do what I do," Clemens said. "I put a lot of
pride into pitching."
Clemens allowed one run, four hits and walked two for his first
win in four outings.
"Roger was Roger today," manager Joe Torre said. "He took
control and did a great job. It's remarkable to see someone be the
type of pitcher he is and be the power pitcher he's been all these
years."
After getting Frank Menechino to fly out for the first out in
the eighth, Clemens came out to another standing ovation and was
replaced by Mike Stanton.
The Yankees, who finished 5-4 on their homestand, fared better
against A's starter Barry Zito than the last time they faced him.
Zito (3-2), who allowed one run in 5 2-3 innings to win Game 4
of last season's AL division series 11-1, was hurt by two unearned
runs in the fourth inning.
With New York leading 1-0, Tino Martinez was hit in the arm with
a pitch to lead off. Jorge Posada lifted a fly ball into left field
that Johnny Damon ran down, but it tipped off his glove sending
Martinez to third and Posada to second on the error.
"I just dropped it," Damon said. "I know the corners at
Yankee Stadium are tough and I was thinking I might have to take it
away from the fans. I saw too many hands. I just dropped it. It hit
the outside of my glove. It wasn't the sun or anything. I just
missed it."
Martinez scored on Michael Coleman's groundout to second, and
Alfonso Soriano followed with a single up the middle to drive in
Posada to make it 3-0.
"This is more of what we're capable of doing," Torre said.
"We took advantage of an error and scored two runs."
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third on Derek Jeter's RBI
single.
Soriano led off with his first walk of the season – in his 104th
plate appearance – taking a 3-2 pitch from Zito that was high and
outside. Soriano received a standing ovation as he trotted to first
base, but he didn't stay there long. He stole second as Scott
Brosius struck out swinging, and scored on Jeter's one-out single.
"When the pitcher released it, I knew it was going to be a
ball," Soriano said through an interpreter. "It felt pretty
good."
Jason Giambi's RBI single in the sixth made it 3-1.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his sixth save, and third
in as many games.
Zito allowed three runs – one earned – five hits, struck out
seven and walked two in six innings.
"You know, if Johnny doesn't lose that or whatever happened on
that ball, it's a 1-1 game," Zito said. "It just happened on a
day when we didn't score many runs."
The A's finished 6-7 on their season-high 13-game road trip.
Oakland went 8-17 in April, tying the 1994 team for the worst
opening month in team history.
Game notes
Clemens broke a tie with Gus Weyhing for 33rd on the career
victories list with his 263rd. Jim McCormick is in 32nd place with
265. ... Clemens' first 20-strikeout game came in a 3-1 win against
Seattle at Fenway Park. Clemens also struck out 20 on Sept. 18,
1996, for Boston in a 4-0 win at Detroit. Kerry Wood of the Cubs is
the only other pitcher to strike out 20 in a nine-inning game. ...
Paul O'Neill took a called third strike in the fifth and exchanged
words with plate umpire C.B. Bucknor. O'Neill was ejected when he
threw his helmet down while walking back to the dugout. ... With
the left-handed Zito starting for the A's, Coleman got the start
over David Justice as the Yankees DH and went 0-for-3 with an RBI.
Justice came into the game in the sixth to replace O'Neill in right
field.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
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RECAPS
Kansas City 11
Boston 8
Cleveland 9
Texas 2
Detroit 6
Tampa Bay 1
NY Yankees 3
Oakland 1
Toronto 2
Anaheim 0
Chi. White Sox 2
Seattle 1
Minnesota 4
Baltimore 0
Milwaukee 10
Montreal 0
St. Louis 12
NY Mets 1
Florida 11
Houston 5
Colorado 14
Cincinnati 7
Chicago Cubs 11
San Francisco 2
Los Angeles 4
Philadelphia 1
San Diego 6
Pittsburgh 1
Arizona 7
Atlanta 5
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