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AP
TRENTON, N.J. - Roger Clemens didn’t look ready for the major leagues on Wednesday night.
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings while pitching for the New York Yankees’ Double-A Trenton farm team against Boston’s Portland, Maine, affiliate.
Clemens wasn’t bothered by the results.
“So far so good,” he said after his second minor league start since signing with the Yankees.
Clemens refused to say where his next start for the Yankees would be. He said he has told team officials how he feels, adding that an intense bullpen workout on Friday might be the deciding factor. He said his arm and legs both felt good.
“I felt the last three or four days when I backed off my routine to give my body a chance to catch up, I expected it to respond well, and it did,” Clemens said.
His pitching was shaky at times. He threw 64 of 102 pitches for strikes, struggling with his control. He walked the bases loaded in the first inning and walked in the tying run in the sixth.
Clemens would have been the losing pitcher but the Thunder tied the game at 3-all in the ninth and won 4-3 in the 10th inning. By that time, about 95 percent of the record crowd of 9,134 was gone, with most walking out after giving the 44-year-old a standing ovation after he was yanked because of his pitch count.
“I think throwing 102 pitches, that was what he was waiting for,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
They arrived three hours before the game and packed the first base line to catch a glimpse of Clemens. He finally walked to the bullpen about 30 minutes before the game and warmed up for 20 minutes.
Clemens walked four, struck out five, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. He gave up four extra base hits, including three doubles and a triple.
“It was one step in the right direction, a little further down the road,” Clemens said. “I’m glad to get one more done.”
The fans were funny though.
After Clemens threw two balls to start the game, one yelled:
“Come on throw a strike!”
Clemens had planned to throw 70-75 pitches but he was at the number after four innings. He got through the fifth with only 10 pitches, but got into trouble in the sixth, giving up consecutive singles, hitting a batter and walking another as Portland tied the score 2-2.
Thunder manager Tony Franklin walked to the mound, talked to Clemens and summoned reliever Michael Gardner, who walked in the go-ahead run against the Sea Dogs.
“I think they wanted to shut me down after five but I felt fine,” Clemens said. “I wanted to continue. I need to get reps, a lot of them.”
If all goes well, he could jump into New York’s rotation Monday or Tuesday against the Blue Jays — one of his former teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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