Distracted Clemens Beats Angels, 5-2

Rare is the game when the Boston Red Sox offer up a Roger Clemens so distracted and befuddled that he loses track of outs and innings. The Clemens the American League knows--and the Angels expected Monday evening--leads the majors in strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched, not moments of confusion.

But there he was at times, standing on the mound after a third out, waiting for the next Angel batter to take his place at the plate. So convincing were his waits that Red Sox infielders hesitated before jogging gingerly past Clemens and into the dugout. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought Clemens had a flask, not a T-shirt, under his jersey.

Turns out there was a perfectly good reason for his behavior. In Houston, near his hometown of Katy, Tex., Clemens’ wife, Debbie, was busy in labor. Their second child was on the way.

Clemens knew this several hours before Monday night’s game. And attending doctors were kind enough to call the Red Sox clubhouse with frequent updates, which must have done wonders for Clemens’ train of thought.

And still he beat the Angels, 5-2, in front of a Bat Day audience of 46,598 fans, many of them there to watch baseball’s Great One.

They saw a game with enough plots and subplots to rival an Agatha Christie novel.

There was Clemens and his states of mind: one in California, the other in Texas with his wife.

There were the Angels, who discovered new ways to lose.

The Angels saw their starting shortstop get thrown out of the game for contesting a strikeout swing. They watched a veteran pitcher stub his cleats on the mound and botch a pitchout play. They had a veteran runner get tagged out at the plate--with none out.

And that’s the stuff that mattered. Who cares about another fielding error by right fielder Chili Davis? Or the quickly depleted supply of left-handed pinch hitters on the Angel bench? Or starter Dan Petry’s exit shortly after the beginning of the fifth inning with nine Red Sox hits and three earned runs added to his season totals.

If ever the Angels had a better than 50-50 opportunity against Clemens, it was Monday night.

“We had a chance to beat him, but we didn’t capitalize on it,” said a frustrated Manager Cookie Rojas, who was almost ejected with Dick Schofield in the fifth inning. “I don’t think this was one of (Clemens’) best days throwing, either.”

Rojas managed to avoid the thumb of umpire Vic Voltaggio, which meant he had to view in full the Angels’ 31st loss in 50 games. What a sight, beginning with a Red Sox run in the first and continuing with Clemens’ appearance.

But there were signs of hope. Clemens had a 3-0 lead entering the third inning, but then allowed a solo homer to Brian Downing. An inning later, Davis added another home run, which cut Clemens’ lead to 3-2. For a change, Clemens appeared mortal.

Now we know why.

“I didn’t know how many outs there were at times,” Clemens said. “I was still standing on the field waiting to strike somebody else out.

“Sure, I’d like to have left (and joined his wife), but I owe it to the team. We’ve been struggling.”

The Angels would have preferred Clemens go AWOL. When he didn’t, they tried more conventional methods: dodging several bases-loaded situations, overcoming two errors and tinkering with an already shallow roster.

It almost worked. The Red Sox stranded 13 base runners, thanks, in part, to a set of double plays. The fielding errors, one by Jack Howell and the other by Davis, never figured in the outcome. They weren’t so fortunate with Schofield’s departure, George Hendrick’s base running, or Greg Minton’s failed pitchout.

The Ejection:

By slinging his bat and helmet to the ground after an argument with Voltaggio, Schofield was shown the dugout tunnel. That left Rojas with Junior Naboa and an injured Gus Polidor. He chose Naboa.

But in the seventh, in an effort to tie the game, Rojas replaced Naboa with pinch-hitter Jim Eppard. That meant Polidor, nursing a strained left rib muscle, had to finish the game.

Sure enough, the Red Sox added a fourth run when Marty Barrett’s grounder rolled past a diving Polidor in the eighth. By inning’s end, the Red Sox had their 5-2 lead.

The Throw Out:

With no outs and Hendrick on first, the score 3-2 in the seventh, Howell doubled to right. Hendrick hesitated and then tried to score. Spike Owen’s relay throw from Brady Anderson beat Hendrick to the plate.

It was the end of an Angel rally for all intents and purposes. Chico Walker then struck out. Eppard walked and Darrell Miller, batting in place of Bob Boone, struck out to end the inning.

Some night.

“I really don’t know anymore,” Rojas said. “What else is going to be next, I got no idea.”

How about a boy, to be named Kevin Anthony Clemens?