Major League Baseball Roundup : Clemens Wins 20th Game on Two-Hitter

Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox was shooting for the Cy Young Award and let everybody know it, especially the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I’m trying to win the Cy Young and I didn’t want to leave any doubt in anybody’s mind,” Clemens said after pitching a two-hitter to beat the Brewers, 4-0, at Boston.

Clemens struck out 12 and didn’t issue a walk in becoming the first American League pitcher to win 20 games in two straight seasons since Tommy John in 1979-80.

He accomplished the feat despite missing most of spring training in a contract dispute.

“Winning the Cy Young Award back-to-back would be very sweet,” said Clemens, the 1986 winner who started this season 4-6 before rebounding to finish 20-9. “I think I put pretty good numbers up. I did what I wanted to do. And I put that old jinx of not winning 20 after winning the Cy Young to rest.”

Clemens’ numbers included 18 complete games and 7 shutouts, both tops in the major leagues, and a 2.97 earned-run average. He struck out 256, second best in the AL.

Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor, who entered the game needing to go 6 for 6 to overtake the injured Wade Boggs for the batting crown, went 0 for 4 to drop his average to .353. Boggs finished at .363 to win his third consecutive title and his fourth in five years.

Kansas City 10, Minnesota 1--The AL West champion Twins begin the playoffs having lost five straight, including this one at Kansas City, as the Royals scored eight runs in the second inning.

In their personal duel for the most hits in the American League,, Kirby Puckett of the Twins and rookie Kevin Seitzer of the Royals each had two to finish tied with 207.

San Francisco 5, Atlanta 4--Bob Brenly homered in the 10th inning to give the National League West champion Giants the victory at home.

The Giants hit four home runs in the game and 205 for the season, breaking the San Francisco record of 204 set in 1962.

Will Clark powered a pair of home runs to stake San Francisco to a 3-0 lead. His 35 homers are the most by a Giant since Bobby Bonds hit 39 in 1973.

Dale Murphy hit his 44th home run, the most by a Brave since Hank Aaron’s 47 in 1971.

Cincinnati 2, Houston 1--Nolan Ryan’s tough luck continued at Houston, where he struck out 10 and walked 1 in 7 innings and still lost, dropping his record to 8-16.

Tom Browning (10-13) allowed eight hits in eight innings for the win.

Ryan finished the season with a 2.76 ERA and 270 strikeouts to lead the majors in both categories.

Chicago White Sox 5, Oakland 2--Reggie Jackson of the A’s had two hits in the final game of his 21-year career, including a broken-bat single in the eighth in his last at-bat, but the White Sox won at Chicago to finish the season with 17 victories in their last 21 games.

Oakland’s Dave Stewart (20-13), a Cy Young Award candidate, allowed 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings to take the loss.

New York Mets 11, St. Louis 6--Pinch-hitter Lee Mazzilli drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single to ignite a five-run ninth inning, and Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter each homered to lead the Mets past the NL East champions at St. Louis.

Hernandez, a former Cardinal booed loudly by St. Louis fans, gave New York a 6-5 lead with a one-out, solo homer off Joe Magrane. It was the 18th home run this season for Hernandez. The fan who caught the ball in the right-center stands threw it back onto the field, drawing applause from the crowd.

Seattle 7, Texas 4--Seattle’s Mark Langston had 10 strikeouts to win the AL title, and Jim Presley and Ken Phelps each hit two-run homers to lead the Mariners at Arlington, Tex.

Langston (19-13) finished with 262 strikeouts for his third title in four years. Texas’ 39-year-old starter Charlie Hough (18-13) gave up 7 runs and 11 hits in 6 innings and ended the season with 285 innings pitched, making him the oldest pitcher ever to lead the AL in that category.

Chicago Cubs 7, Montreal 5--Dave Martinez hit a two-run triple and Rafael Palmeiro and Keith Moreland added solo homers to lead the Cubs at Montreal.

Andre Dawson had a single in four at-bats to fall one short of becoming the first major leaguer to hit 50 home runs in a season since George Foster in 1977.

Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2--The Pirates, who finished in last place in the NL East the previous three seasons, won at Pittsburgh to wind up tied with the Phillies for fourth place with an 80-82 record, their best mark since 1983.

Pittsburgh starter Mike Dunne (13-6), who entered the game with the best ERA among rookie pitchers, allowed two runs on five hits. He went 10-2 in his last 16 starts. Jeff Robinson pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

Baltimore 4, New York Yankees 2--Cal Ripken Jr. hit a two-run home run in the ninth and helped snap the Orioles’ three-game losing streak and end one of the worst seasons in team’s history.

The Orioles finished in sixth place in the AL East at 67-95, their third-worst record in 34 years in Baltimore. They went 18-60 against their division.

FINAL MAJOR LEAGUE LEADERS

American League

Avg. Wade Boggs (Bos) .363 HR Mark McGwire (Oak) 49 RBI George Bell (Tor) 134 Hits Puckett(Min),Seitzer(KC) 207 SB Harold Reynolds (Sea) 60 Wins Roger Clemens (Bos) 20 SO Mark Langston (Sea) 262 Saves Tom Henke (Tor) 34

National League

Avg. Tony Gwynn (SD) .370 HR Andre Dawson (Chi) 49 RBI Andre Dawson (Chi) 137 Hits Tony Gwynn (SD) 218 SB Vince Coleman (StL) 109 Wins. Rick Sutcliffe (Chi) 18 SO Nolan Ryan (Hou) 270 Saves Steve Bedrosian (Phil) 40