AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Keep Clemens Searching for Answers

Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox dominated American League hitters for years, but he is struggling this season to perform to his standards.

Joe Carter, who hit a home run for Toronto in the Blue Jays’ 9-1 victory over the Red Sox Sunday at Boston, is among those wondering whether all those seasons of 200-plus strikeouts and 225-plus innings are affecting the right-hander.

“He’s been doing it to us for years. It might have caught up to him,” Carter said. “Everybody has at least one bad year in his career.”

The Blue Jays hit two home runs and scored six runs against Clemens (9-10) in fewer than four innings to stay tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. It was Clemens’ fourth consecutive loss.

“It’s his location,” Carter said. “If you leave the ball over the plate, you’re going to get hit hard.”

Clemens left Fenway Park immediately after the game and was not available for comment. He has an earned-run average of 8.57 in his last four starts and has lost more than three in a row for the first time since August 1988.

Clemens, pitching on three days rest because of Frank Viola’s elbow stiffness, was booed by many fans when he was chased in the fourth inning. He is 0-3 against Toronto this season.

“Physically, there’s not anything wrong with him,” Boston Manager Butch Hobson said. “His velocity is high. It’s almost like they know what’s coming.”

Carter, Darnell Coles and Ed Sprague homered for the Blue Jays and Paul Molitor drove in three runs with two singles.

Dave Stewart (8-6), who gave up three hits in eight innings, has won 11 of his last 13 regular-season decisions against Boston, and eight in a row against Clemens.

New York 1, Baltimore 0--Don Mattingly broke a scoreless tie with an eighth-inning homer at New York as the Yankees completed a three-game sweep and extended their winning streak to five games.

Mattingly’s 13th homer came on an 0-2 pitch from starter Ben McDonald (9-11).

Scott Kamieniecki (8-4) gave up three hits and struck out three in 8 1/3 innings before Paul Assenmacher got one out and Bob Wickman finished for his second save.

Texas 4, Cleveland 1--Nolan Ryan gave up two hits in seven innings for his 324th career victory before 60,727 at Cleveland.

Tom Henke got the final four outs for his 27th save.

Ryan (5-3) passed Don Sutton into 11th place on the all-time victory list and moved ahead of Walter Johnson into 17th with his 803rd major league pitching appearance.

Juan Gonzalez hit his 35th homer for the Rangers.

Minnesota 12, Oakland 5--Kirby Puckett went five for five and hit two of six home runs by the Twins at Oakland.

Puckett hit two two-run homers to drive in four runs, and Bernardo Brito, a 29-year-old rookie, also hit two homers as the Twins completed a four-game sweep.

Scott Erickson (7-14) ended a personal four-game losing streak, giving up three runs and 10 hits in seven innings.

Losing pitcher Mike Mohler (1-4) gave up seven runs in the first 2 2/3 innings.

Kansas City 7, Chicago 5--Kevin McReynolds hit a homer and drove in three runs at Chicago as the Royals moved to within 3 1/2 games of the first-place White Sox in the AL West.

Tom Gordon (8-3) pitched 6 1/3 innings and beat the White Sox for the third time this season without a loss. Jeff Montgomery got the final three outs for his league-leading 36th save.

Tim Belcher (1-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee 6, Detroit 4--Kevin Seitzer’s two-run double against John Doherty (10-8) broke a sixth-inning tie at Milwaukee and dropped the Tigers 8 1/2 games behind Toronto and New York in the AL East.

Cal Eldred (12-12) gave up six hits in eight-plus innings.