CLEMENS LOSES NO-NO, RETAINS 'W'
Posada's Blast in 8th Breaks Scoreless Tie
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 21 (AP) - Roger Clemens took a no-hitter two outs
into the ninth inning and lost it on a single off the bat of Carl Crawford, but
finished off the one-hit complete game shutout as the New York Yankees defeated
the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 5-0, at Tropicana Field.
The victory, coupled with Boston's extra inning defeat at Cleveland, pulls the
Yankees to within a single game of the AL East leading Red Sox with a week left
in the regular season.
Clemens was magnificent, turning in one of the best starts in the major leagues
this year. He struck out 11 and walked only one. Clemens retired the
first 13 Devil Rays before walking Travis Lee with one out in the fifth.
Lee stole second base, but he struck out Marlon Anderson and retired Pete
LaForest on a ground ball to end the inning. After the walk to Lee,
Clemens retired another 13 consecutive batters, prior to facing Crawford in the
ninth.
For seven innings, Rays starter Jeremi Gonzalez matched scoreless innings with
Clemens. Twice during that time New York had a runner on third base with
less than two outs and couldn't score. But in the eighth, the Yankees
finally broke through. With one out, Nick Johnson singled and advanced to
third when Bernie Williams looped a base hit down the left field line.
Jorge Posada then belted a Gonzalez offering over the right field wall for his
32nd home run and a 3-0 Yankees lead.
Williams gave the Yankees a 5-0 lead with a two-run double in the top of the
ninth.
Clemens struck out Javier Valentin to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, then
retired Damien Rolls on a fly ball to center. That brought Crawford to the
plate. Clemens fired a first pitch strike, then came in with a
fastball. Crawford shot a sharp grounder to the left side, perfectly
splitting third baseman Aaron Boone and shortstop Derek Jeter for a clean
single. Clemens struck out Julio Lugo to end the game.
It was the first time in the major leagues this season that a pitcher lost a
no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning and the fourth time that a no-hitter
was broken up in the ninth. The victory was Clemens' 19th of the
year. He has one start remaining.
9/21/2003, NYY03-TB03, Tropicana Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 5 9 0 8 0 2003 Devil Rays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 Yankees AB R H BI AVG Devil Rays AB R H BI AVG Soriano,A 2b 4 1 0 0 .278 Crawford cf 4 0 1 0 .251 Johnson,N 1b 3 2 2 0 .292 Lugo ss 4 0 0 0 .265 Williams,B cf 5 1 2 2 .232 Huff rf 3 0 0 0 .339 Posada c 4 1 1 3 .268 Martin,A lf 3 0 0 0 .260 Sierra dh 3 0 2 0 .300 Lee,T 1b 2 0 0 0 .283 Matsui lf 4 0 0 0 .321 Anderson,Mar 2b 3 0 0 0 .253 Rivera,J lf 0 0 0 0 .216 LaForest dh 3 0 0 0 .289 Boone,A 3b 4 0 2 0 .244 Valentin,Ja c 3 0 0 0 .215 Wilson,E ss 4 0 0 0 .198 Rolls 3b 3 0 0 0 .273 Garcia,K rf 4 0 0 0 .276 28 0 1 0 35 5 9 5 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Clemens W 19-10 9.0 1 0 0 1 11 113 74 3.39 9.0 1 0 0 1 11 113 74 Devil Rays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Gonzalez,Je L 13-7 7.1 8 3 3 2 5 118 74 4.07 Zambrano,V 1.2 1 2 2 3 0 39 17 4.36 9.0 9 5 5 5 5 157 91 NYY: Rivera,J inserted at lf in the 9th 2B-Williams,B(25), Boone,A 2(23). HR-Posada(32). RBI-Williams,B 2(53), Posada 3(87). SB-Lee,T(7). K-Soriano,A, Williams,B 2, Wilson,E, Garcia,K, Lugo 2, Huff, Martin,A, Lee,T, Anderson,Mar 2, Valentin,Ja 2, Rolls 2. BB-Soriano,A, Johnson,N 2, Posada, Sierra, Lee,T. BALK-Gonzalez,Je, Zambrano,V. GWRBI: Posada Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 20,874 Game Time: 2:36