American League Roundup : Clemens (9-0) Gets Extra Rest, Has Something Extra in 6-3 Boston Win

All that sprained knuckle did was delay Roger Clemens two days. It didn’t affect the pitching of the brilliant Boston Red Sox right-hander.

Clemens pitched eight strong innings Sunday at Minneapolis and, with home run support from Don Baylor and Dwight Evans, remained perfect with a 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Clemens, who is 9-0, had eight strikeouts to regain the league lead from injured teammate Bruce Hurst, 90-89. He gave up seven hits and two runs. Bob Stanley pitched the last inning.

The sprain happened in the first inning last Sunday in Texas when he pitched 7 hitless innings despite the pain. His turn was Friday, but the Red Sox, sitting on top in the East, decided to give their ace two extra days to recuperate.

“I was really strong at first, but I ran out of gas in the seventh,” Clemens told United Press International. “I try to keep minor injuries in the closet. The finger is sore. It’s not going to make me miss a start. I have to play with these injuries.”

Clemens’ fastball was clocked at 94 m.p.h. The Twins were strong in their praise of the 23-year-old fireballer.

“We were trying to catch up to him,” Twins Manager Ray Miller said. “You can’t adjust to a guy throwing that fast. He threw strikes and he threw it hard.

“He’s 9-0 and that’s impressive but he also has a reputation for arm trouble, so school is still out on him.”

Indeed, when the Red Sox went into spring training they weren’t even sure they had Clemens. He underwent surgery on his right shoulder last August and it wasn’t until he cut loose with his good fastball in the spring that the Red Sox knew what to expect. He was 7-5 last season, seeing little action after May. As a rookie in 1984, he came up in mid-May and was 9-4 before going out with an injured right forearm on Aug. 31.

“I’m not looking forward to facing him, because he’s only 23, isn’t he?” said Kirby Puckett, one of the league’s top hitters. “All you can do against Clemens is hope you get the fastball when you think it’s coming.

“It’s a no-win situation with him because now he’s learned how to throw a few curveballs and he can get out of tough jams. The bottom line is, he’s just a damn good pitcher.”

Clemens had to get along without much help from baseball’s leading hitter. Wade Boggs was only 1 for 4 and his average fell to .399. But Baylor hit a 400-foot drive for his 11th homer in the second inning and Evans hit one 443 feet to left-center with two on in the fourth. Until the homer Evans was 1 for 10 for the series.

Kansas City 5, Texas 3--Kansas City fans are all excited because the three-game sweep over the Rangers has moved the Royals into a tie for first place in the West.

Manager Dick Howser isn’t at all excited. He’s managing a team that is at .500 (24-24). Not exactly what you would expect from world champions.

“It’s early,” he said. “There’s no meaning to it. The best thing is we’re scoring runs and winning. It doesn’t make any difference who we’re playing. (Charlie) Leibrandt pitched a strong game.”

Leibrandt (5-3) gave up eight hits and struck out seven in going the distance to end a three-game losing streak.

Lonnie Smith hit a two-out triple in the seventh to drive in two runs and give Leibrandt a 4-3 lead. In the eighth, George Brett, getting a chance to swing the bat now that some of his teammates are getting hits, homered to increase the lead. It was Brett’s seventh home run of the season and 200th of his career.

Chicago 6, Toronto 4--The strange decline of pitcher Jimmy Key continued at Toronto. The Blue Jay left-hander had the White Sox under complete control for 5 innings. Suddenly, he wasn’t any more effective than a batting-practice pitcher and the White Sox ended a seven-game losing streak.

The big blow off Key (3-4) was a three-run home run by Wayne Tolleson.

Cleveland 9, Milwaukee 7--Rookie catcher Andy Allanson had kept his average higher than .300 until a week ago when he started trying to pull every pitch and fell below .280.

In this game at Cleveland, he started spraying the ball to all fields again. A couple of line drives were caught, but in the seventh, the right-handed hitter hit a triple into right-center to break a 6-6 tie and lead the Indians to victory.

New York 7, Oakland 1--It was a couple of former Dodger pitchers meeting at Oakland and both of them indicated they could still pitch. Tommy John, 43, gave up nine hits, but struck out seven in eight innings to improve his record to 3-1.

Dave Stewart, 28, recently signed by the A’s, had to move into a starting role because Joaquin Andujar and Moose Haas, the A’s aces, are hurt. He pitched three innings of relief Thursday, so the A’s only let him go five in this one. He gave up five hits and struck out six, leaving with the score, 1-1.

But, in the sixth against rookie Dave Leiper, Dave Winfield hit a two-run home run and John was on his way to his 262nd victory.

Seattle 9, Detroit 1--Dave Henderson and Jim Presley each homered and drove in three runs at Seattle as the Mariners completed a sweep of the three-game series with the Tigers.

Bill Swift was the winner, although he gave up nine hits and a walk in 5 innings. Mark Huismannfinished up. He lost the shutout when Pat Sheridan opened the ninth with his third home run of the season.

Henderson’s two-run home run in the sixth gave the Mariners a 4-0 lead and handed Frank Tanana his third loss in a row.

ROGER CLEMENS: RED HOT FOR RED SOX

Date Opponent Score IP H ER Ks Record 4/11 Chicago 7-2 8 6 2 2 1-0 4/17 Kansas City 6-2 9 5 1 7 2-0 4/22 Detroit 6-4 6 8 3 10 3-0 4/29 Seattle 3-1 9 3 1 20 4-0 5/4 Oakland 4-1 8 3 1 10 5-0 5/9 Oakland 9-6 8 8 4 11 ND 5/14 Angels 8-5 8 6 5 9 6-0 5/20 Minnesota 17-7 7 9 5 4 7-0 5/25 Texas 7-1 9 2 1 8 8-0 6/1 Minnesota 6-3 8 7 2 9 9-0