NEW YORK -- The Yankees were ready to wait forever it seemed, through the rain and gusts, all the way until sunset.Telephone operators told callers the game would be played no matter what; the club's Web site said that Roger Clemens' first pitch could come as late as 7 p.m.

A potential six-hour delay, just so the Rocket could have his personal dance with history? The Yankees forced the issue, for sure, but it wasn't just Clemens' 300th career win they were holding out for.

The Bombers, losers of seven straight at home, needed Clemens' fury on Monday. They needed the demons of his thousand-yard stare and the violence of his 95-mph fastball.

Whether Clemens chose to conquer the last obstacle to 300 or the Red Sox themselves, the Yankees didn't really care. The Bombers turned their lonely eyes to the Rocket and said: save us.

Maybe that explained why the Rocket sensed "a playoff atmosphere" when he finally took the mound after a 1:40 rain delay. The day was cold and gray and awful, and the wind was strong enough to slice through his uniform jersey -- but Clemens' pitches were still so adrenaline-rich, he was throwing 3-4 mph harder than in last week's start at Fenway.

That completed an already perfect, This-Is-Your-Life setting. The ballpark was sold out, Clemens' family was in the stands, including his ailing mother who'd flown in from Texas, and George Steinbrenner was in his owner's box. Joe Torre wasn't kidding when he said, "Roger had a lot on his plate."

Too much, as it turned out. For all his hyperventilating, Clemens was no match for the Red Sox, or for the Yankees' bizarre downward spiral. Their 8-4 loss to Boston sunk them even deeper into second place, 2½ games out, and ran their at-home slump to 1-12, their worst Stadium drought in franchise history.

By the end of the night, Clemens and Torre were talking more about the Yankees' freefall then how or why the right-hander is still stuck on win No. 299.

"What we need right now is a pitcher to shut people down." Torre said. "It seems like we're going uphill all the time."

"I don't think we're eliminated from the race yet, but we do need to play better," Clemens said.

For the next five days, the Rocket will have to digest exactly what went wrong -- why the Red Sox forced him to throw so many pitches early in the game, eliminating any chance of Clemens hanging around into the seventh or eighth inning.

It's not that Clemens didn't have history-making stuff. To the contrary, he struck out nine in 5.2 innings, and was clocked as high as 96-mph. According to Kevin Millar, "I thought he had great stuff. He was throwing even harder (Monday) than last week."

The difference was, the Red Sox turned each at-bat into a miniature apocalypse, fouling off some off Clemens' best pitches. But of the 10 hits he surrendered, eight came with two strikes.

Millar offered a partial explanation for the Red Sox's success, saying, "I know I personally wanted to be more patient this time, not get all giddy against his fastball. I wanted to sit back and wait, let him come to me."

That strategy resulted in Clemens reaching 113 pitches through five innings, and 133 for the game -- the most he'd thrown in more than two years. Because of the workload, it's possible Clemens will get an extra day's rest and not start again until Sunday in Detroit.

The rotation is now in flux, however, now that David Wells will miss a start after being struck in the calf Sunday. If Torre decides Clemens needs more time to heal, Jose Contreras, recently recalled from Triple-A Columbus, will assume Wells' spot in the rotation.

The Yankees' problems go deeper than that.Andy Pettitte has lost four straight decisions for the first time in his career. Jason Giambi is practically an automatic out, barely hitting over .200. Hideki Matsui, who came to the Yankees riding the crest of last year's 50-HR season in Japan, has just three HRs in 207 at-bats, and an on-base percentage (.313) that isn't much better than his batting average (.266).

All these blemishes, however, were supposed to be covered up by Clemens' entrance into the exclusive club of 300-game winners. At least that was the plan. But even before his first pitch, Clemens' world started to disintegrate. The Red Sox complained about his glove which carried a large, flowing white commemorative "300" patch. Clemens said it was produced and sanctioned by Major League Baseball, although an MLB spokesman later said he knew of no arrangement for Clemens to brandish a patch.

Pedro Martinez later said "maybe (Clemens) jinxed himself" by advertising his 300th victory before actually achieving it. Instead, the Rocket fell behind 5-0, and watched in frustration as the Yankees -- who crept to within two runs -- wasted two chances to wound Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield.

In the fourth, Matsui swung at the first pitch with the bases loaded, grounding out softly to second base and ending the inning. And in the fifth, after Wakefield had walked the bases loaded with one out, Raul Mondesi fell behind 0-2, then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Clemens went back to the mound in the sixth, but that was just wishful thinking on Torre's part. With two outs, the Red Sox ended up scoring three more times, and Clemens left the game, disappointed and obviously a little dazed.

"I'll get there eventually,"Clemens said of No. 300. "I hope."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.