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Friday, May 12 7:05pm ET
Tigers rough up lethargic Clemens | |||||
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DETROIT (AP) -- Maybe this was the sign the Detroit Tigers had been looking for. Less than two minutes after Todd Jones got Jorge Posada on a long fly to left, preserving the Tigers' 9-7 win over the New York Yankees on Friday night, the skies opened up and a hard rain swept over Comerica Park. "See how our fortunes have changed already?" Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "Yesterday, it would have poured on us in that inning right before we scored all the runs." In fact, Detroit did have 3-0 lead over the Kansas City Royals washed out Tuesday night, and the Tigers lost the other two games in that series. Who would have thought the worst team in baseball would find a way to defeat the defending World Series champions? "Sometimes, you just can't figure out everything," said pinch-hitter Gregg Jefferies, who drew a walk and scored what proved to be a big insurance run in the Detroit eighth. Dean Palmer homered and Juan Encarnacion had three RBI as the Tigers avoided tying the worst start in franchise history. The Tigers improved to 10-23, although that's still the worst record in the major leagues. Only one Detroit team has started the season 9-24, the 1953 club that finished 60-94 and 40½ games behind Casey Stengel's Yankees. "I don't know if we needed this win more than any other," Palmer said. "We needed any kind of win." Roger Clemens (3-3), bidding for his 251st career win, got off to a shaky start by walking two and allowing a bunt single in the first inning even though the Tigers failed to score. Clemens said he never could seem to get his hand in position to release the ball properly. As a result, he often couldn't throw the ball where he wanted to. He issued five walks. "It was disappointing for sure," Clemens said. "Just warming up, I knew it was going to be a struggle. My arm just felt lethargic. The ball was moving everywhere in the wind." Clemens gave up six runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings for the Yankees, whose two-game losing streak matches their longest of the season. "It just didn't look like he was comfortable out there," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He never seemed to find the slot today. "It was just a bad outing. I can't analyze it too much. He just didn't have good control." C.J. Nitkowski (2-6), who had lost four straight decisions, gave up two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings for Detroit. "I wouldn't exactly say I outpitched Clemens," Nitkowski said. "I don't think that will make too many headlines." Doug Brocail allowed a two-run homer to Paul O'Neill with two outs in the ninth inning. Jones came in and allowed a triple to Bernie Williams before getting Posada to fly out to deep left field to end the game. It was Jones' eighth save. "These guys don't know how to quit," Torre said. "They're going to fight until the last out, and I'm proud of that. They did it last year, too. Tonight, seven runs just wasn't enough." The Tigers, shut out six times this season, took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Juan Gonzalez in the third. It was only the ninth RBI for Gonzalez, who had driven in just four in the past four weeks. The two-time AL MVP, who is booed each time he strikes out or flies out at Comerica Park, drove in 128 runs last season for Texas. The Tigers jumped on the struggling Clemens for four runs on four hits and two walks while batting around in the fourth. Deivi Cruz had an RBI single, Clemens walked Rich Becker with the bases loaded and Encarnacion's two-run single made it 5-0. The Yankees made it 5-2 in the fifth on a two-run single by Jim Leyritz. Palmer made it 6-2 with an opposite-field homer to right on the first pitch to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Two outs later, Cruz tripled and Luis Polonia walked to knock out Clemens, whose quest to match Hall of Famer Bob Gibson at 38th on the career wins list was delayed at least one start. Polonia had an RBI single and Encarnacion an RBI grounder as the Tigers made it 8-2 in the seventh. Posada had an RBI single and Tino Martinez a two-run double in the eighth to make it 8-5. Cruz had an RBI single in the Detroit eighth. Game notesScott Brosius hit second for the Yankees in place of Derek Jeter, who sat out with an abdominal strain on his left side. Clay Bellinger replaced Jeter at shortstop and hit ninth. ... Becker, making his first start since being signed Wednesday by the Tigers, started in place of LF Bobby Higginson who was serving the second of his five-game suspension for the brawl in Chicago. Becker hit second. ... Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra turned 75 Friday. ... Fick was involved in two odd plays in Detroit's second. He reached when Yankees 2B Chuck Knoblauch fielded the grounder, then threw it in the dirt wide of first for his third error of the season. Moments later, Fick was ruled out trying to steal second -- completing a double play -- because Macias was called for interfering with Posada on his throw to second. ... The Tigers announced 33,326 tickets sold, their second-largest crowd of the season. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard NY Yankees Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 9 Baltimore 0
Detroit 9
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