AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Clemens Gets Sore at Tigers, 3-1

Between starts lately, Roger Clemens has been complaining about a sore shoulder.

Once the hard-throwing right-hander of the Boston Red Sox takes the mound, however, the injury is forgotten.

Clemens, in improving to 15-5, threw 165 pitches in hot, humid Boston Saturday and beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1.

He needed help to get the final out and his string of shutout innings ended at 26, but he celebrated his 28th birthday with another strong performance. He had eight strikeouts, four against Cecil Fielder, and gave up nine hits. Rob Murphy came in to get the last out.

“I pushed it a little far today,” said Clemens, who had pitched consecutive shutouts. “I was physically drained, but mentally I was in there pretty much. I threw a lot of pitches.”

Clemens gave up a run in the fourth on a one-out double by Lloyd Moseby and a two-out single by Gary Ward.

He lowered his major league-leading earned-run average to 2.14 and increased his league-leading strikeout total to 158.

“He’s some pitcher,” Manager Sparky Anderson of the Tigers said. “He pitched well. He did what he had to do when he had to do it.”

Clemens also impressed his catcher, John Marzano.

“Roger wanted to stay in there and almost made it,” he said. “He pitched a great game. He didn’t have the pop early he had in the late innings, but he’s a battler. He’s just the greatest pitcher in baseball and it’s an honor to catch him.”

A single by Larry Sheets and a two-out walk to Dave Bergman chased Clemens.

The bad news for the Red Sox was that they lost their closer, Jeff Reardon, because of a ruptured disk. He will be sidelined the rest of the season.

So it was left to Murphy to finish. In his first chance as the No. 1 closer, he needed only two pitches to get Lou Whitaker on a fly ball to end the game and get his sixth save.

With their sixth victory in a row and seventh in the last eight, the Red Sox increased their lead in the American League East to 2 1/2 games over Toronto.

Wade Boggs, who had three hits for the third time in the last four games, singled home the tying run with two out in the fifth and scored after a single in the seventh for the Red Sox.

The winning run scored in the sixth when rookie Steve Searcy walked Jody Reed with the bases loaded.

Texas 3, Toronto 2--It’s probably too late for the Rangers to make a move in the West, but they are making life miserable for the Blue Jays.

Bobby Witt pitched a five-hitter at Arlington, Tex., for his seventh consecutive victory as the Rangers extended their winning streak to six games with their third in a row over the Blue Jays.

Witt (10-8) had a no-hitter until the fifth and pitched his third complete game in 21 starts this season.

Julio Franco and Ruben Sierra each had two hits for the Rangers and Sierra drove in two runs.

The Blue Jays have lost four out of five and must face Nolan Ryan tonight.

Chicago 9, Milwaukee 6--Sammy Sosa hit a three-run home run in a six-run sixth inning at Milwaukee and the White Sox won their fourth in a row. It was the Brewers’ seventh consecutive loss.

Ivan Calderon hit his 11th home run of the season and his fourth home run in the last four nights.

Adam Peterson went into the eighth with an 8-2 lead, but the Brewers scored four runs before Bobby Thigpen came in and got the last four outs and his 35th save.

Cleveland 17, New York 3--Looking at the final score, it’s hard to believe that it was a 3-3 tie going into the sixth inning at New York.

In the sixth, Cory Snyder hit a grand slam to break the tie and hand Tim Leary his 14th loss.

Chris James hit a two-run home run in the first inning, the first home run off Leary in 90 2/3 innings.

Seattle 4, Minnesota 3--The Twins’ Brian Harper extended his hitting streak to 25 games with a double in the fourth inning at Seattle.

But it was a bloop double with two out in the ninth inning by the Mariners’ Harold Reynolds that was the key hit. Reynolds’ double scored Scott Bradley from first base.

The Twins had rallied for a run in the top of the ninth to tie the score.

Only Ken Landreaux, who hit safely in 31 consecutive games, has had a longer hitting streak for the Twins.

Kansas City 9, Baltimore 1--The Royals, battered and bruised in two previous games at Baltimore, turned it around.

Mike Macfarlane hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs as the Royals dropped the Orioles 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the East.

The Royals, who were outscored, 19-2, in the first two games, also had a home run from George Brett.

Andy McGaffigan (3-0) gave up two hits in six innings to keep his record perfect and lower his ERA to 1.39.