Clemens Puts Cap on Angels, 8-0

The Angels demanded Roger Clemens change his cap after the first inning Tuesday, contending the “33” he had written in white ink on the side of the cap in tribute to Larry Bird was a distraction.

Clemens might have driven the Angels to distraction, but his cap had nothing to do with it.

Although not overpowering, Clemens held the Angels to four hits Tuesday and struck out eight in Boston’s 8-0 rout before 33,339 at rain-dampened Fenway Park. Clemens (15-7) extended his personal winning streak to five and regained the AL strikeout lead with 164, in the process reducing his league-leading earned-run average to 2.10.

“I think he’s learned how to pitch and not just overpower people,” Angel catcher Ron Tingley said after Clemens’ second four-hit shutout of the Angels this season, following a 3-0 victory May 15 at Fenway Park.

“He still has the capability to hump it up and throw in the 90s, but that’s not his game anymore,” Tingley added. “He concentrates more on pitch selection and keeps hitters off balance.”

Said rookie Damion Easley after his first look at Clemens: “We just couldn’t put anything together against him. It’s really that he doesn’t allow anything to happen. Every time it seemed like we were about to get to him, he clamps down and just squeezes.”

He did allow the Angels a few opportunities, issuing three walks and hitting a batter, but the Angels never capitalized. By contrast, the punchless Red Sox--who entered the game with a league-low .243 team batting average--got to Angel starter Mark Langston (11-11) for 11 hits and five runs in five innings, helped by the five walks Langston gave up.

Jody Reed’s leadoff walk cost Langston a run in the second, after Mo Vaughn doubled and Wade Boggs hit a sacrifice fly. Billy Hatcher’s single to right scored Vaughn with the second Boston run.

Tom Brunansky walked and scored in Boston’s two-run flurry in the third, which included a run-scoring single by Tony Pena and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by John Valentin.

“You have to be fine against Clemens, because you know you’re not going to score many runs,” said interim Manager John Wathan, who used that to explain why he brought his infield in during the second inning with runners on second and third.

“You play the game a little different. . . . You’ve got to scratch and claw for every run against him and we just couldn’t do much tonight.”

Clemens, who changed his cap to a regulation model without argument, spent most of his postgame interview session discussing Bird’s retirement. He did take a few minutes to reflect on his chances of becoming the first AL pitcher to win four Cy Young awards.

“We’ll see how things look in September,” said Clemens, who has won his last eight decisions against the Angels since May 26, 1989, and has a 1.34 ERA against them in that span. “Hopefully, I’ll continue to pitch well and impress. I have no control over whether I win.”

Langston said he tried not to allow Clemens’ presence to alter the way he approached the game. But Langston acknowledged he broke his habit of not watching the opposing pitcher and kept an eye on Clemens.

“He’s the best pitcher in baseball,” Langston said. “You get guys on and all of a sudden it seems like he turns it up a notch and gets out of it. You just can’t let him have a big lead, because then he can just go out there and throw.”

A 5-0 lead is what he had by the sixth inning, a lead the Red Sox padded on Vaughn’s three-run home run off reliever Steve Frey in the eighth inning. The Angels left eight runners on base, including six in scoring position, but no one could deliver a damaging hit against Clemens.

“He had everything working tonight,” Red Sox catcher Tony Pena said. “He got ahead of them right from the beginning and when he gets ahead of them, you know what’s going to happen.”

Said Wathan: “I’ve seen him better than he was tonight, but he was good enough.”