NEW YORK — The Boston Red Sox made Roger Clemens get rid of his lucky glove, then took away his best chance at becoming the only pitcher to win his 300th game in Yankees pinstripes.
Clemens' first bid at the milestone victory became a bust Monday when Boston banged him around, winning 8-4 and sending New York to its eighth straight home loss.
Clemens slowly trudged off the mound, his head down the whole way, after Todd Walker's single chased him in the sixth inning. Now, he'll have to wait until next Sunday in Detroit — and the following weekend at Wrigley Field, if necessary — in road gray to try to join 20 other pitchers with 300 career victories.
But bad omens surrounded Clemens, even before his first fastball.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 42 minutes by rain, and Clemens' routine was further disrupted right after his final warmup. That's when Red Sox manager Grady Little walked out to complain about Clemens' glove.
The Rocket was wearing a new glove with a shiny "300" patch on the back of it, and plate umpire Bill Miller agreed with Little that it was not within regulations. Clemens had to toss aside that mitt while another one was brought from the dugout.
Clemens (6-3) threw 133 pitches — his highest total in more than two years. Still, he remained winless in his last nine starts at Yankee Stadium.
New York lost its season-high fifth in a row.
Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 26 games and Walker drove in three runs as Boston increased its AL East lead over the Yankees to 2 1/2 games. Tim Wakefield (5-2) got the win.
Walker's two-out, two-run single chased Clemens after 5 2-3 innings, and he gave up 10 hits and eight runs.
TIGERS 6, INDIANS 5: At Detroit, Brandon Inge hit a tiebreaking homer off Jason Boyd (0-1) with two out in the seventh inning, and Detroit beat Cleveland for only its fourth victory at home this season.
Dmitri Young homered and drove in four runs for the Tigers, who won for the fourth time in five games overall and improved to 4-17 at Comerica Park.
Steve Avery (2-0) got the win despite giving up a game-tying, three-run homer to Brandon Phillips with two outs in the top of the seventh.
Franklyn German worked a perfect ninth for his second save.
BLUE JAYS 11, WHITE SOX 5: At Toronto, Carlos Delgado hit a two-run single in a five-run sixth inning and the Blue Jays beat the White Sox 11-5 for their fifth straight victory.
Chris Woodward and Josh Phelps homered for the Blue Jays, who returned from an 8-2 road trip and handed struggling lefty Mark Buehrle his seventh consecutive loss. Toronto leads the majors with 316 runs.
The Blue Jays, who completed their first four-game sweep of the Yankees last weekend, moved within 1 1/2 games of New York for second place in the AL East. Toronto (28-24) is a season-high four games over .500.
Magglio Ordonez and D'Angelo Jimenez homered for the White Sox, who allowed four unearned runs and matched a season high with four errors.
Josh Towers (1-0) got the final out of the sixth inning for the win. Jeff Tam got four outs for his first save since June 13, 2001, for Oakland.
Buehrle (2-8), a 19-game winner last season, allowed six runs — two earned — and five hits in six innings.
Down 3-1 in the sixth, the Blue Jays scored five runs — four unearned.