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Holliday, Rockies deny Clemens, Yankees

Jun 21, 2007 - 11:55 PM DENVER (Ticker) -- Matt Holliday put an end to Roger Clemens' day, as well as his chance at history.

Holliday's run-scoring single in the fifth inning plated Kaz Matsui and chased Clemens from the game as the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep by defeating the New York Yankees, 4-3, on Thursday.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, remains one victory shy of becoming the first major leaguer to reach the 350-win plateau since Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves tossed a shutout on September 29, 1963.

Clemens (1-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in just 4 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out six.

"I expect to win, it's disappointing," Clemens said. "At the same time, I know it's not going to come easy. Nothing is going to come easy to this ballclub. I've been here long enough to know that, we expect to win and when we don't, we're disappointed."

Garrett Atkins started and finished the scoring for Colorado. The third baseman belted a solo home run in the second to draw the Rockies within 2-1, and his sacrifice fly capped a two-run fifth inning that opened a 4-2 lead.

After Hideki Matsui's two-run homer staked the Yankees to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, Colorado responded with a pair of homers, the second by rookie Troy Tulowitzki, to tie the game.

"Two big swings of the bat for us, one from Atkins and one from Troy, to get us right back in it," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.

"It happened, and it's something I'll always remember," Tulowitzki said.

Tulowitzki finished with three hits, falling a triple shy of the cycle.

"I'm seeing guys all the time that I watched growing up and I respect a lot but, when I get out there on the field, I'm ready to compete with anybody," Tulowitzki said.

Rockies starter Rodrigo Lopez (4-0) was not perfect, but his record remained so despite allowing two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"I felt pretty good today," Lopez said. "That's a tough lineup. They take a lot of pitches. I was able to make my change of speed, and at the end it works. It's a tough lineup and I'm pretty happy with the results."

"He was hitting his spots and we made some mistakes on the bases, that's pretty much it," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said.

Colorado's bullpen came through with a strong effort in relief of Lopez. Jorge Julio allowed a sacrifice fly to Melky Cabrera in the seventh, but Manny Corpas worked a solid eighth and Brian Fuentes tossed a flawless ninth for his 20th save.

New York, which entered the series having won 11 of its previous 12 games, scored just five runs in the three-game series at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

"It's something that we certainly didn't expect, and again, it's not like we take anyone for granted because that's not the way we've been playing these last few weeks," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I think we came in here and didn't expect not to score runs. We made mistakes today that can't happen, base-running mistakes."

With the Yankees trailing, 4-2, in the fifth, Clemens singled to put runners on first and second with one out. But Johnny Damon lined into a double play to end the threat.

Jeter extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double in the sixth inning.