Clemens Leads Yanks Over Tigers

I guess extra rest for Roger Clemens means more strikeouts.

The Rocket returned from his suspension throwing gas and the Yanks scored four runs in the sixth en route to a 5-2 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.  Clemens struck out eight, Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu both went deep and the Yankee bullpen sealed the win with three innings of stellar relief.  Even the beleaguered Kyle Farnsworth contributed -- he pitched a 1,2,3 seventh including strikeouts of Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez.

Yeah, I was shocked too, but believe it or not, Kyle hasn't allowed a hit or a run in his last four appearances.  No, really, it's true.  If Farnsworth has finally "turned the corner" then the Yankee pen should be in great shape as the Bombers hit the stretch run.

The Good:

Roger Clemens.  Clemens was in and out of trouble for a lot of this game. He threw a bunch of pitches (he finished with 108 pitches in six), had at least one runner on in every inning except one and gave up 10 hits, but came up big when he needed to.  The highlight of Roger's afternoon came in the third when he wiggled out of a first and third nobody out jam.  Clemens struck out Curtis Granderson for the first out and then pulled off maybe the strangest double play of his career.  With the runner at first running, Clemens K'd Marcus Thames swinging and then cut off Jorge Posada's throw to second and chased down Brandon Inge (who broke for home) for the final out of the inning.  Good stuff.  Clemens also became the ninth player in Major League history to record 1,000 strikeouts with two different teams.  It was another gritty performance for Clemens and he evened his record to 5-5 with this: 6 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HBP.

Bobby Abreu.  Abreu hit one of the ugliest homers of his career on Saturday, but it was good enough to give the Yanks a lead they would never relinquish.  With the Bombers down 2-1 in the sixth, Abreu sliced a ball down the left field line that I thought had no chance of staying fair, but it somehow hit the foul pole (at least I guess it did.  The game was on FOX and Tim McCarver said it hit the pole, but there was no replay to confirm his statement.  Weak.) for a two-run home run and a 3-2 Yankee lead.  Bobby has had the magic touch lately with his bad hop RBI single on Friday night and his oops homer on Saturday.  I wonder what El Comedulce has in store for Sunday.  Abreu finished 1 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and 2 RBIs. 

Jorge Posada.  The dog days of August have had no effect on Posada's game.  The Yankee catcher picked up three more hits on Saturday, including his 15th homer of the season in the second inning that gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead.  How great has Jorgie's season been?  Posada's average hasn't dipped below .311 at any point this season.  That's unreal.  Posada finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.

The Bad:

Hideki Matsui.  The Yankees banged out 11 hits on Saturday and every Yank had at least one -- except for Godzilla.  Matsui finished 0 for 4 and dropped his average under .300 for the season.  But, I'm not worried.  Matsui has a career .467 average and 3 homers against Sunday's scheduled starter Jeremy Bonderman.  Oh no, they say he's got to go -- go go Godzilla!

The Ugly:

How bout that.  Gary Sheffield entered Saturday's game batting .533 against Roger Clemens.  How is that possible?  Well, Gary proved that his 8 for 15 was no fluke as he finished 3 for 3 against The Rocket and upped his career average to .611 against the future Hall of Famer.  Yep, the fans still booed Sheffield.   

The Yanks try for three out of four against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon and will send Chien-Ming Wang to face Jeremy Bonderman.  Bonderman is 10-5 on the season, but he's 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in August.  The Wanger has also had a rough August (1-1 with a bloated 8.04 ERA), but is 3-0 in his career against Detroit with a 2.52 ERA.

In Wang we trust.