Roger Clemens was born on August 4, 1962. I’m not sure what he was expecting to do on his 38th birthday, but I doubt he expected to begin it on the mound. But after a three-plus hour rain delay pushed back the start of the Yankees’ game against the Royals to after 10:30 Eastern Time, that is what happened.
Unfortunately, the Yanks did not reward Clemens with a personal birthday win. They did have the common courtesy, however, to make sure the team won. After falling behind 2-1 late, they knotted the score then Paul O’Neill walked it off in the bottom of the ninth.
August 3: Yankees 3, Royals 2 (box score)
Record: 58-45, .563 (3.5 GA)
The delay did not affect Clemens. He came out strong, despite the best (worst) efforts of his defense. An error in each of the first and second innings prolonged his outing and drove up his pitch count, but Clemens was up to the task and kept KC off the board.
Facing Royals starter Mac Suzuki in the home second, Tino Martinez gave his starting pitcher a tiny bit of breathing room with a solo shot to right field.
From there, Suzuki and Clemens traded zeroes for the next few innings. Finally, in the sixth, the Royals touched up the Rocket. Four straight singles plated two Kansas City runs to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. On the night, Clemens allowed a mere five hits through seven innings, so KC was wise to bunch them all up like that.
Meanwhile, Suzuki continued to hold the Bronx Bombers at bay. The Yankee offense put two men aboard in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. But each time, Suzuki escaped with the tenuous one-run lead intact.
KC went to the bullpen for the eighth and it looked like Jerry Spradlin would pick up where Suzuki left off. Thankfully for the home team, the Royals defense decided it was their turn to kick the ball around. With two out and Scott Brosius on first, pinch hitter Glenallen Hill lofted a lazy pop fly into right field.
The right fielder gave way to second baseman Carlos Febles who… dropped the ball. Brosius motored around the bases to score the tying run.
Mariano Rivera came into the game with it tied heading to the ninth. Though Febles managed to walk and steal second, the GOAT held the Royals out of the run column and gave the bats one last chance to win in regulation.
In the home half, Luis Polonia stepped to the plate. He’d signed with the Yanks earlier that day after being released by the Tigers on July 31st. Polonia led off the frame with a walk and advanced to second on a Derek Jeter ground out. That set the stage for Paul O’Neill. Facing Spradlin, in the latter’s second inning of work, Paulie lined a ball to center field, easily scoring Polonia for the walk-off win.
Not a bad little win. Clemens pitched magnificently outside of a four-batter stretch. The bats did just enough, and Polonia paid immediate dividends. The win kept the Yankees 3.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox and 5.5 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, who were playing some putrid baseball (11-18 since July 1st) to fall off in the division race. You hate to see it.
Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.