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Clemens earns 350th career win as Yankees beat Twins

Jul 3, 2007 - 5:06 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The good news for the New York Yankees was that Roger Clemens reached another milestone. The bad news was that they suffered a potentially damaging injury.

Clemens recorded his 350th victory and Bobby Abreu sparked a four-run sixth inning but the Yankees lost third baseman Alex Rodriguez to a hamstring injury in a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.

In his finest outing since returning to the Yankees on June 9, Clemens (2-3) allowed an RBI groundout to Jason Kubel in the second and scattered two hits in eight innings. He struck out four, walked one and threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.

"I've been getting stronger. For me there's a tremendous amount of work," Clemens said. "I will take a deep breath when all of this is over. But right now is not the time to do it. It is a real neat moment and I'm glad I did it here. I'm glad you all (media) were here and to do it in this type of market, I enjoy playing here.

"Not too many guys pitch as long as Roger," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "And to pitch as long as he has and not change the style of pitching, thats pretty incredible."

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner retired the final 15 hitters he faced and became the eighth pitcher in major league history to reach 350 victories, an achievement that Clemens didn't think he would reach after his initial retirement following the 2003 season.

"I wouldn't have (thought I'd win 350)," Clemens said. "I was very sincere way back when in 2003. I thought I had touched a little bit of everything in this game and wanted to move on and do something else."

The righthander also became the first pitcher to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Warren Spahn did it for the Milwaukee Braves against the Chicago Cubs on September 29, 1963. Clemens was 13 months old at the time but Yankees manager Torre was Spahn's 23-year-old catcher.

"Roger Clemens, he pretty much dominated our lineup," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We really didn't have too many chances against him. He pretty much shut us down totally."

"He was in and out," Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter said. "He didn't make too many mistakes and his split-finger was moving like crazy. It wasn't even real. But his velocity it's not like 95 anymore. It's 91 but I think he's smarter. He's hitting the outside corner, the inside corner and he's not leaving too many balls over the plate."

After failing in his previous four attempts at the milestone, it appeared Clemens would have to wait again as the Yankees sputtered in key situations early on.

New York stranded seven through the first five frames against Boof Bonser, who struck out All-Stars Derek Jeter, Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

Things changed with one out in the sixth, when Abreu sent a 2-1 slider into the upper deck in right field for his fifth homer of the season. It was Abreu's first in 70 at-bats dating to a first-inning homer he hit off Arizona righthander Brandon Webb on June 12.

When Abreu homered off Webb, he was batting third. Since then he has been shifted down to eighth a few times and was batting seventh.

The homer was one of three hits for Abreu, who had two hits in his previous 26 at-bats before Monday.

"It's been a tough season for me so far and I'm just trying to enjoy it," Abreu said. "I think today it was one of these days, maybe I can feel better, especially when we're winning."

"Since I've been here, when Bobby hits, it seems like we have a totally different lineup," Clemens said. "When I faced him over there, (in the National League), he was the guy that you didn't want to let beat you. He was a dangerous hitter and when he's right he's a dangerous hitter. It was great to see him smile." The Yankees kept it going as consecutive singles by Andy Phillips and Robinson Cano knocked out Bonser. Juan Rincon issued consecutive walks to Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera, which made it 3-1.

New York added its final two runs off Matt Guerrier, when Jeter chopped a single that eluded third baseman Jeff Cirillo. Rodriguez followed by avoiding a double play and taking a tumble into first base.

Rodriguez, who leads the majors in homers (28) and RBI (80), appeared to hurt his left leg but stayed in the game after being attended to by assistant trainer Steve Donohue. After Posada walked to loaded the bases a second time, Rodriguez came out.

"I dont know (what happened)," Rodriguez said. "Two big guys banged up each other pretty good there. I think we're both fortunate because it could have been ugly for him and for me."

After being examined by team physician Stuart Hershon, Rodriguez was diagnosed with a strained left hamstring. Rodriguez, who will be re-evaluated Tuesday, was replaced by Miguel Cairo.

In 5 1/3 innings, Bonser (5-5) allowed four runs and nine hits. He has surrendered 11 runs and 17 hits over 9 2/3 innings in two starts against the Yankees this season.

New York opened the scoring in the first on Rodriguez's RBI groundout.