Blue Jays Are Routed After Clemens Is Injured

Right from the start, Roger Clemens had a feeling something was wrong.

The four-time Cy Young winner left after only seven pitches because of a strained right groin, and the Minnesota Twins took advantage of his absence to rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-2, Tuesday night at Minneapolis.

Clemens wound up as the losing pitcher in the shortest start of his career. His strain was described as mild by the Blue Jays, and his status was listed as day-to-day.

Clemens said he hurt himself on a warmup pitch while getting ready in the bullpen. He returned to the clubhouse to work out and decided to take the mound.

“I came in to do some stretching and as we stretched it, I got a little sharp pain and thought, ‘Maybe I better not do that,’ ” Clemens said. “I let everybody down. It was just a waste.”

Clemens walked leadoff hitter Matt Lawton on five pitches and then fell behind 2-and-0 to Brent Gates before calling time. Manager Tim Johnson replaced Clemens with Robert Person.

Person walked Gates, a walk that was charged to Clemens. Both runners scored in a four-run first inning, highlighted by Marty Cordova’s two-run triple.

Bob Tewksbury gave up one run and two hits with no walks in seven innings.

Detroit 3, Tampa Bay 1--Brian Hunter got a key triple and the Tigers ended a five-game losing streak in the game at Detroit.

Bryce Florie pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the victory, and Todd Jones pitched a perfect ninth inning for his first save.

Detroit scored three runs off Rolando Arrojo, who gave up eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Baltimore 11, Kansas City 7--Joe Carter drove in four runs, and Eric Davis and Lenny Webster homered at Kansas City, Mo., as the Orioles won their sixth in a row.

Scott Erickson took an 8-1 lead into the sixth but was removed with one out in what wound up as a five-run inning.

Catcher Mike Macfarlane cleaned out his locker after the game and it was reported he was traded to Oakland for outfielder Shane Mack.

Both Macfarlane and Mack can refuse the trade.

Royal General Manager Herk Robinson said the trade had not been completed, but KMBC-TV and the Kansas City Star each quoted Macfarlane as saying he would be in Oakland today.

New York 13, Seattle 7--Chuck Knoblauch homered on the first pitch of the game, and Darryl Strawberry and Jorge Posada also connected in the first inning as the Yankees routed the Mariners at Seattle.

Strawberry had two home runs and a double and drove in four runs.

Cleveland at Oakland--In a game that started Monday, rain delayed play for 3 1/2 hours and Cleveland led the Athletics, 6-5, early Tuesday morning when play was stopped after eight innings because of the American League’s curfew rule.

About 200 fans from the announced attendance of 6,963 were still in the stands when the game was halted at 1:22 a.m. PDT. Under AL rules, no inning may start after 1 a.m. local time.

The game will resume in the ninth inning today before the start of the regularly scheduled game.