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GAME LOG
NEW YORK _ The only one who got hit by a fastball Friday
night was Roger Clemens.
Clemens, pitching for the first time since beaning Mike Piazza,
kept in control after being drilled by a line drive as the New York
Yankees beat the Florida Marlins 6-2.
Clemens' right forearm was swollen and bandaged after Paul
Bako's liner got him in the fourth inning. There was no visible
effect, however, from what happened with Piazza.
"That's history. I'd rather not talk about that," Clemens
said. "I felt awful about it. But my skin's pretty thick."
Clemens came close to just one Marlins batter in winning his
third consecutive start.
In the opening inning, he backed away Preston Wilson with a
waist-high fastball. Wilson wound up walking in that at-bat, and
hit a two-run homer his next time up.
"I don't know that I've been doing enough, as far as pitching
inside," Clemens said. "But you have to pitch inside to be
successful."
Bernie Williams and David Justice hit consecutive home runs in
the first inning off All-Star Ryan Dempster and Ryan Thompson later
connected for a three-run shot. The Marlins had won three in a row.
Clemens (7-6) had been caught in a swirl of controversy since
hitting Piazza in the helmet with a fastball last Saturday night,
giving the Mets catcher a concussion and knocking him out of the
final two games of the Subway Series and the All-Star Game.
Piazza and the Mets claimed it was intentional, Clemens and the
Yankees insisted it was an accident. Either way, the Rocket had
been portrayed by many "like he was some kind of ogre," New York
manager Joe Torre said.
"Today, I thought he was a little anxious going out there. Some
of that may have been an effect of what happened," Torre said. "I
was glad to see what I saw out there."
Clemens pitched seven innings and gave up seven hits, striking
out four and walking three. He has won three in a row for the first
time since last season.
"There wasn't anything that Roger did tonight that would've
raised any comment," Marlins manager John Boles said.
"I was hoping he would pitch inside, rather than get ahead in
the count and get us out with the split finger," he said, adding
with a smile, "I was going to charge the mound, that's what I was
upset about."
Clemens is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA since coming off the disabled
list after being sidelined by a strained groin. His 254th victory
moved him into a tie with Jack Morris and Red Faber for 35th place on
the career list.
The Yankees won without second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who was
listed as day-to-day with a bruised left wrist and thumb after
being hit by a line drive Thursday night. His replacement, Jose
Vizcaino, got his 1,000th career hit.
Dempster (9-6), who was selected for the All-Star Game but did
not pitch, was tagged for six runs in six innings. In his only
other start at Yankee Stadium, he gave up three homers in 4 2/3
innings in a 1998 loss.
Williams hit a two-run homer, his 20th, and Justice followed
with his 23rd for a 3-0 lead in the first.
Thompson, promoted from the minors Thursday, connected in the
fourth for his first big-league homer since last Sept. 7 with
Houston.
After the game, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner put his arm
around Thompson in the clubhouse.
"Glad you're here," Steinbrenner told him.
Wilson hit his 20th home run in the third. In the fourth, the
Marlins thought they had scored the tying run when Clemens
seemingly balked with a runner on third base, but it was ruled that
time had been called.
Luis Castillo stole two bases in the first for Florida, giving
him a major league-leading 38. The Marlins swiped four in all, and
top the majors with 100.
Game notes
Former Yankees captain Don Mattingly will take part in his
first Old-Timers Day game Saturday. ... Castillo has seven
multi-steal games this year. ... Denny Neagle, acquired Wednesday
from Cincinnati, joined the Yankees. He will pitch Monday night at
home against Philadelphia. ... The Marlins are 38-25 overall in
interleague play, the best record in the majors.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Mets 6
Boston 4
Cleveland 9
Pittsburgh 3
Houston 9
Detroit 4
NY Yankees 6
Florida 2
Toronto 3
Philadelphia 2
Tampa Bay 8
Montreal 5
Atlanta 4
Baltimore 1
St. Louis 9
Chi. White Sox 4
Milwaukee 4
Kansas City 0
Chicago Cubs 6
Minnesota 2
Arizona 6
Texas 1
Seattle 7
San Diego 5
Anaheim 5
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 4
Oakland 2
Cincinnati 9
Colorado 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Roger Clemens gets the win with a little help from his friends.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
After all the hoopla from last week's series, Joe Torre was pleased with Roger's performance.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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