AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Clemens Strikes Out 11, Beats Rangers, 4-1

Roger Clemens had the Texas Rangers shaking their bats at his fastballs during the game and shaking their heads in wonder after it.

Clemens gave up two hits and struck out 11 in eight innings Friday night to break out of his Fenway Park slump and lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Rangers.

“That was a great game he just threw. He was in command,” said Rafael Palmeiro, who had one of the hits off Clemens. “A pitcher like that, when he’s on, I don’t care how good a hitter you are, it’s tough.”

Against Clemens (6-4), who had lost seven of his previous eight decisions at home, the Rangers hit only six balls out of the infield. It was the 54th time he has struck out 10 or more.

Eighty-two of his 114 pitches were clocked at 92 m.p.h. or faster.

“Lately I’ve gotten beaten with some other pitches,” Clemens said, adding that he and catcher Tony Pena decided to use more fastballs against the free-swinging Rangers. “Tony and I got back to some basics of what we wanted to get done.”

Jeff Russell pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Andre Dawson singled in two runs for Boston in the first and Billy Hatcher hit a two-run homer in the fourth. All the Red Sox runs came off Roger Pavlik (1-1).

The only Texas run came when Palmeiro reached base with two out in the seventh on an error by first baseman Mo Vaughn, and Ivan Rodriguez tripled off the center-field wall. Before the error, Palmeiro had been the only baserunner off Clemens with a second-inning single.

Hatcher ran into the wall trying to catch Rodriguez’s triple and was removed from the field on a cart. He had a mild concussion and was listed as day to day after being examined by team physician Arthur Pappas.

Clemens had been in what he described as a “mini-slump,” having lost three of his previous four games and failing to reach the seventh inning in his last two starts--both losses at home. He had given up 13 runs and 15 hits in 10 2/3 innings in those losses, with eight walks and seven strikeouts.

That led to questions about the strength of his right elbow, in which he had a pulled muscle earlier in the season. But he answered those questions emphatically against Texas.

Clemens twice struck out the side, the 79th and 80th times he has accomplished that in his career. He struck out Rodriguez, Dean Palmer and Gary Redus in order in the fifth, and got Doug Dascenzo, Jose Canseco and Palmer in the seventh.

New York 4, Chicago 0--Jimmy Key pitched a three-hitter for his second shutout of the season as the Yankees defeated the White Sox night at New York.

Key (5-2) gave up three singles and only one runner made it beyond second base. He struck out nine and walked one.

“If I can’t beat somebody the way I threw tonight, I can’t beat anybody,” Key said. “They caught me on a night when I threw my game.”

The nine strikeouts were one short of his career best.

“I don’t even think about strikeouts,” Key said. “When I’m pitching, strikeouts are usually a mistake. Guys span the strike zone and chase bad pitches.”

Minnesota 7, Cleveland 6-- Chuck Knoblauch scored from third base on a passed ball by Indian catcher Lance Parrish in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Twins won at Minneapolis.

With runners on second and third and none out, reliever Eric Plunk attempted to intentionally walk Kirby Puckett. His second pitch sailed high and to the right of Parrish, who got his glove on it but couldn’t prevent it from going back to the screen. Knoblauch, who had started the rally with a single off Ted Power (0-2), scored easily.

Milwaukee 5, Kansas City 1-- Cal Eldred pitched a four-hitter at Milwaukee as the Brewers won their third consecutive game, their longest winning streak of the season.

Eldred (6-5) gave up one run and four hits, struck out eight and walked one for his first complete game of the season.

Kevin Appier (5-4), who had a personal three-game winning streak ended, gave up four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Oakland 3, Toronto 2--Ed Sprague’s wild throw in the eighth inning, the Blue Jays’ fifth error of the game, allowed Oakland to score the go-ahead run at Oakland.

The five errors tied a season high for Toronto, which dropped its third in a row.