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Bedard, Huff deny Clemens win No. 350

Jun 28, 2007 - 5:53 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees' opponents are doing their best to make sure Roger Clemens cannot reach another milestone.

Erik Bedard pitched seven solid innings and Aubrey Huff homered off Clemens as the Baltimore Orioles posted a 4-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

Clemens, whose 22 wins against Baltimore are the most any active pitcher has against the Orioles, was denied in his quest to become the eighth pitcher in baseball history to win 350 games for the third time. To add insult to injury, New York has scored just two runs for him in his three starts.

"We certainly know we're better than this and you don't have to think back too far to know we're better than this," New York manager Joe Torre said. "Right now, we're in a funk and its puzzling for everybody concerned."

Bedard (6-4), who leads the majors in 129 strikeouts, had his way all game against the slumping YankeeS bats, striking out eight - marking the 10th time in 17 starts he has struck out that many - and holding the potent New York offense to two runs or less for the third straight contest. The lefthander yielded just two hits and one walk, retiring the final seven batters he faced before departing after 108 pitches.

"He was throwing strikes," Baltimore catcher Ramon Hernandez said. "He was getting ahead of hitters and then he makes them chase. He was making pitches where he needs to tonight. He got a couple of guys with 3-2 breaking balls and punched out a couple of guys with fastballs. He was hitting his spots."

Huff followed a RBI single from Ramon Hernandez, blowing open a pitchers' duel with a three-run blast off Clemens (1-3) to extend the Baltimore advantage to 4-0. The home run was the 30-year-old's first homer since May 9, breaking a span of 143 at-bats without a home run, the longest of his career.

"My swing has been kind of messed up," Huff said. "I have been getting hits the other way and the double (line drive) swing is there, but my home run swing has not really been coming this year. I can't really explain it but when I do hit one, I feel a click and whether I feel it tomorrow or a month from now, we'll see."

Clemens surrendered four runs and seven hits with three walks, failing to strike a batter out for the first time after 200 consecutive starts with at least one strikeout. The last time the 11-time All-Star did not record a strikeout was in a one-inning start on June 14, 2000, against the Boston Red Sox.

"I was trying to be stingy the whole game," Clemens said. "That is my fault. I've been in tons of those games like that and you just want to minimize what they are doing out there and keep (the) momentum."

The Yankees were able to mount a threat in the ninth, as New York put runners on first and second with one out against reliever Chad Bradford. However, the submariner struck out Jorge Posada and forced Bobby Abreu into a weak groundout to first to preserve the shutout.

"We haven't been able to put anything together," Torre said. "The last inning was the biggest rally we had of the night. We just have to be tougher outs than we are right now."