Clemens Injured in Yankee Win

The much-anticipated rematch between Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens was decided by some lesser names Wednesday at New York. In fact, Clemens left after one inning because of a right groin injury.

Ramiro Mendoza pitched 5 2/3 innings in relief of Clemens, and Tino Martinez hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning after Pedro Martinez had left, giving the New York Yankees a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Martinez’s homer into the upper deck in right field off Tim Wakefield (2-5) broke a 1-1 tie and moved the Yankees one game ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East.

Clemens worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning--the only inning he’d pitch before leaving because of the strained groin.

Manager Joe Torre said the injury, which first flared up in Atlanta 11 days ago, may force Clemens to go on the disabled list.

The Yankees were pleasantly surprised when Martinez didn’t come out for the seventh inning. The Cy Young winner allowed one run and six hits in six innings and left after throwing 101 pitches.

“We want to protect this kid,” Manager Jimy Williams said. “We had wanted him to throw about 100 and he was there.”

Baltimore 11, Texas 10--Delino DeShields singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning at Baltimore as the Orioles handed the Rangers their seventh consecutive defeat.

The Orioles blew a 5-0 lead built on Albert Belle’s 12th career grand slam, then rallied from a 10-6 deficit with a four-run eighth.

Chicago 11, Cleveland 4--Jeff Abbott went three for four with three RBIs as the White Sox completed a three-game sweep at Cleveland by winning for the 12th time in 14 games. Chicago has a five-game lead over the second-place Indians in the AL Central.

The game was delayed 2 hours 7 minutes by rain.

Oakland 9, Minnesota 6--Tim Hudson won his sixth consecutive decision and Jason Giambi and Ben Grieve hit consecutive home runs as the surging Athletics won at Minneapolis. Giambi went four for four with four runs batted in.

Oakland won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Kansas City 5, Seattle 4--Scott Pose walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth at Kansas City for the Royals’ 11th walk-off victory of the season. On June 6, Pose came to the plate in a similar situation in St. Louis and grounded out on the first pitch in a 5-4 loss.

“I was looking for a better pitch this time,” Pose said.

Toronto 8, Detroit 1--Chris Carpenter, who had never done well against the Tigers, pitched eight strong innings, and Brad Fullmer and Jose Cruz Jr. homered as the Blue Jays won at Detroit.