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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SEATTLE (AP) -- A cramp, rather than the Seattle Mariners,
finished off Roger Clemens.
|  | | Tired legs and cramping might have ended Roger Clemens' fun on Monday, but he already inflicted pain on the Mariners in the Yankees' 9-1 romp. |
Clemens won his seventh straight decision, pitching shutout ball
before abruptly leaving in the eighth inning Monday night as the
New York Yankees beat slumping Seattle 9-1.
Clemens grabbed at his right hamstring after a pitch in the
eighth and was pulled. After the game, the Yankees said it was
Clemens' left hamstring -- the one that has caused him problems in
the past -- that actually had cramped up.
The Yankees said Clemens was OK and that there was no cause for
concern. The club said he was pulled because of tired legs.
"My legs were a little tired," Clemens said. "I think it was
a combination of the cool weather and the long inning we had in the
top of the eighth."
Jose Canseco, who homered, and David Justice each drove in three
runs as the Yankees sent the Mariners to their 13th defeat in 15
games.
Grim-faced manager Lou Piniella had nothing to celebrate on his
57th birthday as Seattle's lead in the AL West was cut to 1{ games
by Oakland. The Mariners led by seven games when their slide
started on Aug. 12.
Said Piniella: "Clemens is a future Hall of Famer. He hasn't
accomplished the things he's accomplished in baseball because he
hasn't been able to do those things."
The Yankees matched their season-high five-game lead in the AL
East.
Clemens (11-6) gave up five hits and lowered his ERA to 3.65,
second in the AL to Boston's Pedro Martinez (1.77).
Clemens gave up a leadoff single to Alex Rodriguez in the
eighth. Then after going to a 1-1 count on Edgar Martinez, Clemens
grabbed his hamstring and manager Joe Torre went to the mound.
At that point, Clemens was pulled.
"Roger's fine," Torre said. "When I went out there, he said
his legs were getting a little tired. So I got him out of there."
Clemens is 7-0 with five no-decisions and a 2.60 ERA since
coming off the disabled list July 1. He had been sidelined by a
strained right groin.
The five-time Cy Young winner struck out seven and walked four.
He also moved Rodriguez off the plate with a fastball in the eighth
-- in the top of the inning, Yankees star Derek Jeter was hit in the
left arm by a pitch from Paul Abbott (8-5).
Clemens' second pitch of the game to Rickey Henderson sailed off
the backstop. Clemens improved his career record against the
Mariners to 21-11, giving him the most lifetime victories against
Seattle; Dave Stewart was 20-6 against the Mariners.
Clemens got Henderson to fly out with the bases loaded in the
second. Clemens got Martinez to pop out and John Olerud to fly out
with the bases loaded in the fifth.
The Mariners scored in the ninth off Jason Grimsley on
Henderson's sacrifice fly.
The Yankees, who lost three of four to Seattle at Yankee Stadium
earlier this month, took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Abbott walked Luis Polonia, gave up a single to Jeter and walked
Bernie Williams to load the bases. Justice hit into a double play,
with Polonia scoring New York's first run.
On a 3-2 count, Canseco hit a 397-foot homer that hit the roof
of the Mariners' bullpen in left field, a two-run shot and the
444th of his career.
"Roger tells me all the time I never hit home runs for him,"
Canseco said. "So take that, Roger."
In the fifth, Luis Sojo walked, stole second and scored on
Polonia's single.
A two-run double by Justice drove Abbott from the game in the
eighth and Canseco followed with a sacrifice fly off Joel Pineiro.
Sojo extended his career-high hitting streak to 14 games with an
RBI single off Pineiro.
Game notes
The Mariners were a franchise-high 22 games over .500 when
their slump began. ... Canseco has hit four home runs in 16 games
since the Yankees got him on waivers from Tampa Bay. ... Rickey
Henderson, second on the all-time walks list, walked twice to give
him 2,047 for his career. ... Yankees 1B Tino Martinez of the
Yankees sustained a hyperextended left foot when he slid into home
plate in the eighth and was thrown out by right fielder Al Martin.
The Yankees said his status was day-to-day.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 5
Boston 2
Cleveland 5
Texas 2
Toronto 4
Anaheim 2
Oakland 3
Chi. White Sox 0
NY Yankees 9
Seattle 1
St. Louis 5
Florida 2
Montreal 9
Arizona 5
San Francisco 5
Pittsburgh 4
NY Mets 4
Houston 2
Philadelphia 3
Colorado 2
Cincinnati 6
Atlanta 3
San Diego 8
Chicago Cubs 2
Los Angeles 5
Milwaukee 3
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