Roger Clemens left the Red Sox more than a decade ago. On Wednesday night, he left them scratching their heads.
Clemens shut down his original team, allowing only two hits and outpitching a much younger ace in leading the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over Boston.
Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 44th home run, and the Yankees got another big hit from Johnny Damon to earn their second consecutive win in the series. New York trimmed Boston's cushion to six games in the AL East and moved within a percentage point of Seattle for the wild-card lead.
Josh Beckett was tagged for a career-high 13 hits by the Yankees, who turned to Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning for a four-out save.
Clemens (6-5) held the Red Sox hitless until David Ortiz connected for an upper-deck homer with one out in the sixth.
MARINERS 8, ANGELS 2: At Seattle, Jered Weaver won for the fourth time in five decisions, Garret Anderson had four hits and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners to complete a three-game sweep and open a five-game lead in the AL West. Vladimir Guerrero homered and went 8-for-14 in the series as the Angels improved to 11-4 against Seattle this year.
INDIANS 4, TWINS 3: At Cleveland, rookie Asdrubal Cabrera's two-run homer and Victor Martinez's solo shot in a four-run first helped C.C. Sabathia finally get win No. 15 as the first-place Indians won their fifth straight. Johan Santana (14-10) dropped to 0-4 this season against the Indians, already the only team to beat the All-Star three times in the same year.
ATHLETICS 5, BLUE JAYS 4 (11): At Oakland, Calif., Jack Hannahan hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 11th inning to help Oakland snap a five-game losing streak. Hannahan's big hit came after Huston Street blew a 4-2 lead in the ninth by allowing solo homers to Lyle Overbay and pinch-hitter Matt Stairs — the first time the closer has allowed two homers in an outing in his career.
TIGERS 5, ROYALS 0: At Kansas City, Mo., Esteban German hit a go-ahead triple in a five-run first inning against Andrew Miller, and the Royals handed the Tigers only their second shutout this year. Detroit fell 4 1/2 games behind division-leading Cleveland, matching the largest deficit of the season for the defending AL champions.
DEVIL RAYS 5, ORIOLES 4 (12): At Baltimore, Dioner Navarro singled in the tiebreaking run in the 12th inning, and the Devil Rays took advantage of another meltdown by the Baltimore bullpen in handing the Orioles their eighth straight loss. Baltimore led 4-1 in the eighth inning before Tampa Bay rallied to tie the game.
RANGERS 5, WHITE SOX 4: At Arlington, Texas, Sammy Sosa hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift Texas. Jim Thome went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI singles for the White Sox, who have lost 15 of 18 games.
National League
PHILLIES 3, METS 2: At Philadelphia,the Mets' Marlon Anderson was ruled out on a game-ending interference call at second base, negating a possible tying run and giving the Philadelphia Phillies win over New York.
BREWERS 6, CUBS 1: At Chicago, Ben Sheets came off the disabled list to give sagging Milwaukee a lift, and Ryan Braun hit a bases-loaded double during a four-run seventh inning. With just their fourth win in the last 15 games, the Brewers moved within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central.
DODGERS 10, NATIONALS 9 (12): At Los Angeles, Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and a sacrifice fly in the 12th as Los Angeles rallied from a five-run deficit to finish a three-game sweep. James Loney drove in four runs for the Dodgers.
ASTROS 7, CARDINALS 0: At Houston, Roy Oswalt allowed four hits and struck out nine in seven dominant innings as the Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, Cecil Cooper's first win since replacing Phil Garner as manager on Monday.
ROCKIES 8, GIANTS 0: At San Francisco, Jeff Francis pitched a six-hitter for his second career shutout, Garrett Atkins homered twice and Colorado avoided a three-game sweep. Francis (14-6) struck out three and walked one in his second career complete game.
BRAVES 7, MARLINS 4: At Miami, Matt Diaz homered twice and Atlanta beat Dontrelle Willis to salvaged a win at the end of a disappointing trip. Atlanta rookie Yunel Escobar homered leading off the first inning for the first time, and he scored three times.
REDS 8, PIRATES 0: At Pittsburgh, Aaron Harang threw a two-hitter for his fourth career shutout and Ken Griffey, Jr. and Brandon Phillips homered for Cincinnati. Alex Gonzalez and Javier Valentin had three hits and Phillips, Scott Hatteberg and Edwin Encarnacion each had two for Cincinnati.
PADRES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1: At San Diego, Greg Maddux didn't walk a batter for the sixth straight start as the Padres inched past Arizona and back into the NL West lead by one percentage point.