AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Shelling Makes It Clear: Clemens Hurting

The Boston Red Sox saw enough of Roger Clemens on Sunday to know that he needs to see a doctor.

Clemens was rocked for eight runs in 1 1/3 innings at Fenway Park as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Red Sox, 8-3.

Clemens (3-3) gave up nine hits and walked two in tying his second-shortest start ever.

After the game, Clemens said he had been bothered by stiffness in his elbow since he beat Kansas City on July 18.

“I knew what I was feeling before today’s start and it lasted all day,” Clemens.

As a result, he will undergo an MRI exam today, Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy said.

Clemens threw 61 pitches to 16 batters. The eight earned runs equaled the amount he yielded against Texas on July 13. It was only the fourth time in his career that he didn’t strike a batter out in a start.

“I’m not concerned. I couldn’t finish off my slider and it’s tough to get batters out when they are looking for one pitch,” Clemens said. “I put our guys in a tough spot.”

The Twins scored four times in the first inning, then chased him with four runs in the second. Minnesota did not get a hit the rest of the game after Dan Mastellar’s RBI single.

New York 11, Texas 4--Don Mattingly hit a two-run home run and Luis Polonia and Mike Stanley also homered to lead the Yankees to their fifth consecutive victory and moved them to within 5 1/2 games of first-place Boston in the East.

Jack McDowell, meanwhile, was treated tolerably by the crowd of 32,765 in his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since making an obscene gesture at fans last Tuesday after a poor outing.

McDowell (8-6) heard a brief chorus of boos when his name was announced before the game, but that was the only negative reaction he received. He pitched six innings, yielding seven hits and two earned runs. He walked two and struck out six.

Seattle 6, Toronto 4--Bob Wells pitched five scoreless innings of relief at the SkyDome to help the Mariners complete their first winning trip of the season.

The Mariners split two games in Milwaukee before going to Toronto and winning the final two games of the weekend series, giving them six victories in their last nine games.

They went 11-9 on their last winning trip, when falling ceiling tiles forced them out of the Kingdome from July 22 to Aug. 11 last season.

Cleveland 2, Oakland 0--Mark Clark and two relievers combined on a six-hitter at Oakland as the Indians beat the Athletics for the 13th consecutive time.

The Indians went 7-0 against the A’s this season and were 6-0 against them last year.

Paul Sorrento hit a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning. The Indians are 10-1 since the All-Star break, and have won six in a row overall, all on the road.

Baltimore 6, Kansas City 2--Mike Mussina, bombed by the Royals 10 days earlier in the shortest outing of his career, pitched a six-hitter over eight innings at Kansas City and became the second AL pitcher with 11 victories.

Mussina (11-5) struck out six and walked none and won his fifth in a row as the Orioles won two out of three from the Royals for their 17th victory in 27 games.

Chicago 11, Milwaukee 6--Rookie Lyle Mouton hit a three-run homer and Frank Thomas hit a two-run double to lead the White Sox at Chicago.

Jim Abbott (6-4) gave up two earned runs and eight hits in seven innings. He lowered his earned-run average, which ranks in top 10 in the American League, to 3.37.