Baseball

AL: Clemens cruises to No. 297

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Roger Clemens held Anaheim to five hits to earn his 297th win, and Alfonso Soriano led off the game with one of three New York homers as the Yankees beat the Angels 9-2 Wednesday night.

Clemens, 40, struck out six and walked none in eight innings, allowing two unearned runs. He lowered his ERA to 1.59.

New York outhit the Angels 18-5 and extended its franchise-best start to 18-3. It was the Yankees' second straight one-sided victory over the defending World Series champions, who beat them in the first round of last year's playoffs.

Soriano went 4-for-5 and Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer and had two run-scoring singles. Raul Mondesi also hit a two-run homer as New York won its seventh straight, equaling the club's longest streak last season.

New York has outhomered opponents 43-5, hitting the most in the major leagues and allowing the fewest. The Yankees have as many homers as Detroit has runs.

Clemens' performance gave the New York starters a 16-0 start, the longest winning streak by a starting rotation to begin a season in history. The longest winning streak by a starting staff overall is 23 by the 1916 New York Giants.

A six-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens needs three wins to become the 21st player with 300.

TIGERS 4, A'S 1: Rookie Jeremy Bonderman retired 17 straight batters for his first major-league win, and visiting Detroit earned its second victory in 19 games this season.

Craig Monroe hit a two-run homer off Barry Zito for the Tigers, whose other win was 4-3 against the White Sox on April 12. The team still is off to the worst 19-game start in its history.

Bonderman, traded to the Tigers by Oakland last year, was spectacular as Detroit stopped its eight-game losing streak in highly unlikely circumstances: on the road against Zito, who lost for the second time in his past 32 starts at the Coliseum.

RANGERS 6, RED SOX 1: Ryan Christenson hit a leadoff homer, Juan Gonzalez had a two-run single and John Thomson pitched seven solid innings for his first AL victory for host Texas.

Thomson allowed one run and six hits in winning for the first time since Sept. 8 for the Mets against Philadelphia. He also spent 41/2 seasons in Colorado before signing with Texas in the offseason.

MARINERS 4, INDIANS 0: Gil Meche tied his career high with eight strikeouts in 72/3 innings and John Olerud hit his first homer of the season to lead host Seattle.

Meche allowed five hits, all singles, and walked two. It was the longest major-league start for the right-hander, 24, who missed the 2001 season after two major shoulder operations. He pitched for Double-A San Antonio last season.

ORIOLES 7, WHITE SOX 1: Former Rays starter Jason Johnson allowed one hit in six innings and Jeff Conine hit a three-run homer as host Baltimore won its sixth in eight games.

TWINS AT ROYALS, PPD.: The rainout will be made up June 16, a scheduled off day for both teams. It was the third time this season Kansas City has had a game postponed because of inclement weather.

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