Clemens Has Royal Outing Vs. Kc

American League

Roger Clemens was revved up. He dominated hitters. His troubled season may not be in trouble anymore.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner gave up five hits in eight innings, his longest outing of the year, and ended a string of four winless starts with a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday in Boston.

“You saw the beginning of Roger Clemens’ strong second half” of the season, Boston Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy said. “He had the eye of the tiger.”

Clemens (3-2) entered the game with a 5.30 ERA in nine starts. In his previous four, he was 0-1 and allowed 21 runs and 29 hits in 24 innings. On Tuesday, his ERA dropped to 4.75. He struck out six and walked three.

The win ended a three-game losing streak for Boston, which leads the A.L. East.

“We needed this game,” Kennedy said. “That was the Roger Clemens that we all know.”

“I might have been more keyed up,” Clemens said.

He had an old friend on the bench to keep him that way. Former teammate Al Nipper took over Tuesday as pitching coach as John Cumberland was given a leave of absence.

“He was on me every inning,” Clemens said. “He caught me a couple of times saying a few things to guys and he said, ‘You need to stay focused.”’

Clemens also benefitted from some changes in his motion that Nipper suggested.

Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth inning for his 15th save, his third since being traded to Boston, as Kansas City lost for the 15th time in 21 games.

Indians 7, Angels 5

Cleveland

Albert Belle hit a grand slam off Lee Smith with one out in the ninth inning, lifting Cleveland past California for its 25th come-from-behind win of the year and 14th win in the team’s last at-bat.

Blue Jays 7, Twins 0

Minneapolis David Cone (9-5) became an even more attractive trade target with his 21st career shutout, a four-hitter that gave Toronto a win over Minnesota, its eighth victory in 11 games.

White Sox 9-11, Yankees 4-4 New York

New York was beaten by two former pitchers now throwing for Chicago, and the most frustrated of all was current Yankees and former White Sox right-hander Jack McDowell.

With Jim Abbott allowing 13 hits in a complete-game opening victory and Dave Righetti going 6-2/3 innings in his longest outing in almost 12 years in the nightcap, the White Sox had 37 hits in the sweep.

Orioles 4, Rangers 2

Arlington, Texas

Mike Mussina, one start after the shortest outing of his career (two-thirds of an inning), allowed four hits over 7 innings and Baltimore reached the .500 mark for the first time this season, beating Texas.

Brewers 4, Athletics 0

Milwaukee

Rookie left-hander Sid Roberson (6-2) allowed one hit over seven innings and Mike Matheny had a career-high three RBIs as Milwaukee beat Oakland for its sixth straight victory.

Clearing the bases

Tim Raines set an A.L. record with his 37th straight stolen base when he stole second in the sixth inning. His streak started in 1993, and it broke the mark of 36 set by Baltimore’s Brady Anderson from 1994-95. Vince Coleman holds the major-league mark of 50 in 1988-89. … The White Sox are 18-10 at Yankee Stadium since 1990. … Jerald Clark re-aggravated his sprained right knee in his only at-bat Monday night, was put on the 15-day disabled list by Minnesota, less than 24 hours after he was activated. … Chico Lind, the Gold Glove second baseman whose disappearance last month infuriated Kansas City, has cleared waivers and reached a financial settlement with the team. … The Twins have given up 117 home runs in 74 games, and have hit just 63. Minnesota is on pace to give up 228 homers in the strike-shortened 144-game season. The 162-game record is 226 by Baltimore in 1987. … Darryl Strawberry’s debut for the New York Yankees could come this week, possibly by Thursday, according to his agent.