Clemens Claims No. 250

Roger Clemens was waiting in the clubhouse when Mariano Rivera walked in and presented a prize: The game ball from the Rocket’s 250th victory.

Clemens earned the milestone win in vintage fashion, shutting down the Baltimore Orioles for seven innings Saturday and pitching the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory at New York.

“It’s just a good number to get to,” Clemens said. “It’s obviously a lot of wins. It tells you what you’ve been able to do over time.”

A crowd of 54,350, the largest of the season at Yankee Stadium, saw the 37-year-old Clemens in complete command as the Yankees won their sixth in a row. He became the 39th pitcher to reach the mark, and is one victory behind Bob Gibson for 38th place.

Clemens is No. 1 among active pitchers, with Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves trailing at 225. Next up for Clemens, an astute student of baseball history, is win No. 300.

“It seems a long way off,” said Clemens, who is 250-136 in a career that started with the Boston Red Sox in 1984. “It’s another milestone to shoot for. If it happens, it does.”

The Orioles lost their fourth in a row as the Yankees improved to 7-0 in one-run games.

Clemens (3-2) gave up four hits, struck out five and walked two. Only once did the Orioles put two runners on base in an inning--Rich Amaral doubled with two out in the fifth and Delino DeShields followed with a double on a 3-and-0 pitch off diving first baseman Tino Martinez’s glove.

Cleveland 8, Toronto 6--Catcher Einar Diaz hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning at Toronto as the Indians ended their six-game losing streak.

Diaz is hitting .447 since replacing Sandy Alomar in the starting lineup. Alomar, on the 15-day-disabled list because of a strained right hamstring, could rejoin the Indians on Monday.

Kansas City 11, Chicago 5--Johnny Damon hit two two-run homers and went four for five to lead the Royals at Kansas City, Mo.

Every Kansas City starter had at least one hit as the Royals finished with a season-high 18.

Minnesota 6, Detroit 1--Mark Redman (2-0) pitched seven strong innings for the Twins at Minneapolis in the first game after the end of two of eight-game suspensions imposed on Manager Phil Garner and third baseman Dean Palmer of the Tigers.

Garner and Palmer were penalized by the commissioner’s office for their roles in a bench-clearing brawl against the Chicago White Sox on April 22.

Texas 11, Oakland 10--Luis Alicea’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning lifted the Rangers at Arlington, Texas.

It was the second consecutive game the Rangers won with both teams scoring in double figures.

A day after blowing a 15-7 lead and losing, 17-16, the Athletics wasted leads of 6-1 in the third, 8-6 in the seventh and 10-9 in the ninth.