At 41, The Rocket has a perfect 9-0 record
SEATTLE (AP) — There's no rust on The Rocket.
Roger Clemens became the oldest pitcher to win his first nine decisions, allowing three hits in 6 2-3 shutout innings Tuesday night to lead the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners 1-0.
He came out of a brief retirement over the winter, and now the victories are piling up.
”They're coming in good spots,” said the 41-year-old Clemens (9-0). ”We just need to continue to play well.”
Morgan Ensberg hit a seventh-inning sacrifice fly off Joel Pineiro (1-8), allowing Jeff Bagwell to tag up and score on a close play. It gave Clemens his 319th win, moving past Phil Niekro into 14th place on the career list.
”The guys I've tied or passed, it's just icing on the cake for me,” Clemens said. ”I felt anything that happened this year was just a great deal of fun. I never expected to be here.”
Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton are tied for 12th with 324 wins. Clemens might not take long to pass them, too.
”When I was little, I had a poster of him in my room. Not a bad guy to look up to,” said Pineiro, who pitched a solid game, but lost his career-high seventh straight decision. He allowed three hits in eight innings, struck out four and walked three.
”Joel pitched great,” Clemens said. ”His record doesn't indicate that he's had a lot of success, but he threw the ball great. He was real stingy.”
The six-time Cy Young Award winner struck out seven, increasing his total to 4,187, and walked a season-high five. Clemens improved to 23-14 against Seattle, the most wins by any pitcher against the Mariners.
He now has won two straight starts after a skid — by his standards — of three straight games without a decision from May 16-28. He won seven straight starts to open the season.
”He's been phenomenal this year,” teammate Craig Biggio said. ”That's 12 solid starts. He tries to stay in there as long as he can, and 12 quality starts is pretty impressive.”
The crowd of 34,238 gave Clemens a standing ovation when he left in the seventh, despite the Mariners trailing 1-0.
”It's really nice. I've enjoyed coming to Seattle,” Clemens said. ”I've had some fun in the old stadium and this stadium. I don't know that you would consider tonight a lot of fun. It wasn't comfortable at any point.”
Houston's 1-0 lead held up when Brad Lidge got the final out of the seventh and escaped a jam in the eighth.
Lidge gave up a leadoff triple in the eighth to John Olerud, but got Bret Boone on a fly to shallow right, then struck out Scott Spiezio and pinch-hitter Dave Hansen. The Mariners, who had won three in a row, stranded 12 runners.
”That's the kind of situation we don't like to be in, but our bullpen has done a fantastic job of getting out of jams and everybody has contributed,” Lidge said.
Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances. Seattle put runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth on singles by Dan Wilson and Randy Winn, but Dotel struck out Edgar Martinez.
Clemens wasn't flawless, allowing baserunners leading off three innings. He was steady, though, eventually outlasting Pineiro.
”He didn't have his 96 and 97 mph stuff, but he had a really good slider,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. ”He threw more sliders than I've seen in the past. Not as many splits. He threw very, very well.”
Houston scored in the seventh after Bagwell singled and Jeff Kent walked. The runners moved up on Lance Berkman's fly to deep center, and Bagwell tagged when Ensberg flied to shallow left.
Winn caught it and threw to Wilson, who made the touch on Bagwell at the plate before the ball rolled loose. Bagwell overslid, but jumped back to the plate just as Pineiro picked up the ball and barely missed tagging him out.
”I was just trying to get around the tag. I thought I tagged home plate the first time,” Bagwell said.
Notes: Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-4 with a walk, ending his 14-game hitting streak. … Kent's ground-rule double in the second extended his hitting streak to 23 games. He can tie Tony Eusebio's 24-game team record Wednesday. … Olerud tripled for the first time since June 16, 2001, when he hit for the cycle in San Diego.