Not wanting it to be his final start, the 41-year-old shuts down Twins for 2-1 ALDS lead.
By Associated Press
Published October 5, 2003
MINNEAPOLIS - Warming up in the bullpen, Roger Clemens heard the taunts from Twins fans: This was it for the Rocket.
"You just want to try and be defiant," Clemens said. "You just don't want that to be the case."
Knowing this could be the final start of his storied career, Clemens made Hideki Matsui's early home run stand up and led the New York Yankees over Minnesota 3-1 Saturday for a 2-1 lead in their AL division series.
Cruising through seven innings, Clemens quieted the Metrodome crowd of 55,915 before Mariano Rivera took over for his second straight two-inning save.
"When you see Roger Clemens pitching like that, you just follow his steps," said Rivera, who has retired all 12 batters he's faced.
Game 4 is today, with Johan Santana pitching for Minnesota against David Wells. If the Twins win, they'll play a decisive Game 5 at Yankee Stadium on Monday.
"We've got two more games to go, as far as we look at it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We feel good."
They'll have to start hitting, though, if they want to keep going. The Twins managed only four hits against Andy Pettitte and Rivera in Game 2 and are batting .179.
Nobody expected Clemens to be rattled, not even in the noisy dome - where the Twins are 13-4 all-time in the playoffs. He gave up five hits, a run and a walk for the victory. He struck out six in his 23rd career postseason start.
"He has a lot of pride," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
The crowd was roaring from the start, moved by third-base coach Al Newman's ceremonial first pitch to Gardenhire. Newman suffered a hemorrhage in his brain Sept. 10 in Chicago and spent more than two weeks in the hospital.
Kyle Lohse had a hopping fastball to match the early clamor in his first career postseason start for the Twins. His first of five strikeout victims, Derek Jeter, fanned in the first on a neck-high 96 mph pitch.
After the first, Torre told his team to be ready for the high fastball, and Matsui was. With Bernie Williams on base after a leadoff double in the second, Matsui sent a first-pitch fastball into the upper deck for a 2-0 lead.
Minnesota crept to 3-1 on A.J. Pierzynski's leadoff homer in the third, but they could get no closer as Clemens kept them off-balance.
Lohse took the loss on his 25th birthday, giving up six hits and walking two in five innings.
