Once Again, Clement Beats Orioles

Matt Clement extended Boston’s run of exceptional starts with another outstanding performance against the Baltimore Orioles.

Clement gave up eight hits over eight innings, and the Red Sox beat Rodrigo Lopez and the Orioles, 1-0, Thursday night in Baltimore to complete a two-game sweep.

Kevin Millar scored the only run in the second inning after a throwing error by shortstop Miguel Tejada. That was enough to beat the Orioles, who were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2003.

“It is all about the pitchers. We’re only as good as our pitchers,” Boston catcher Jason Varitek said.

Duplicating the outing of David Wells one night earlier, Clement (2-0) pitched eight strong innings before giving way to the bullpen.

The right-hander is 3-0 with an 0.89 earned-run average in three starts against Baltimore -- he has beaten them with the Chicago Cubs, Florida and now Boston.

“You don’t get to pitch in a 1-0 game very often, and to win one is rarer,” Clement said. “I have been on the other end of a couple of them last year, so it was nice tonight.”

The Orioles had scored at least seven runs in five of six games before the Red Sox arrived in Baltimore, but they were no match for a rotation that has posted a 1.13 ERA over the last seven games.

Oakland 3, Seattle 0 -- Rich Harden pitched seven innings to run his scoreless string to 15 and the Athletics got a two-run homer from Mark Kotsay at Seattle.

The 23-year-old Harden (2-0), who moved up in the A’s rotation after the off-season trades of Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, yielded five hits and two walks and struck out eight in his third start of the season.

Harden has given up only one earned run in 20 1/3 innings, an ERA of 0.44. He has struck out 20 and walked six, while holding opposing hitters to a .188 batting average (13 for 69).

Octavio Dotel pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his third save in as many opportunities.

New York 4, Toronto 3 -- Mike Mussina won for the first time this season. He yielded three runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings at Toronto, striking out five and walking one.

The 36-year-old right-hander escaped jams in the third and fourth innings by inducing double-play grounders. Relievers Buddy Groom and Felix Rodriguez bailed him out in the sixth, getting out of a one-out, two-on jam.

Mariano Rivera allowed two runners in the ninth but got his third save in five chances. The Yankees, who swept the two-game series, arrived in Toronto having lost five of six games.

The Yankees spoiled the home debut of rookie left-hander Gustavo Chacin (3-1), who won his first three starts.

Tampa Bay 3, Texas 2 -- Dewon Brazelton ended his seven-game losing skid and Carl Crawford had a tiebreaking groundout at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Brazelton (1-3) gave up two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. It was his first victory since beating Oakland on Aug. 22, a span of 10 starts.

Crawford gave the Devil Rays a 3-2 lead on a run-scoring groundout to short in the sixth. It was his team-leading 15th RBI.

Minnesota 10, Kansas City 9 -- Lew Ford’s one-out single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Twins the win.

Jason Bartlett doubled with one out against Shawn Camp (0-1), Torii Hunter was intentionally walked and Matthew LeCroy singled to load the bases. Bartlett scored on Ford’s bouncer up the middle.

Chicago 4, Detroit 3 -- Scott Podsednik hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning at Detroit, giving the White Sox their fourth win in a row. Chicago’s 12-4 record is its best after 16 games since the 1935 team had the same mark.