| Clemens was throwing on two days' rest, said Kent, but the hurler refused to use it as an
excuse.
"It was a tough go of it," Clemens said. "I threw a couple of breaking balls
and they hit them. Going in, (Anaheim's Vladimir) Guerrero was the guy I was
worried about the most and he was the only guy I got out.
"It happens. You face a good lineup and somebody gets on and somebody flips
one out of here and it's a tough outing. The biggest thing to me is I wanted to
go two innings to help out and I wasn't able to."
Starting NL catcher Mike Piazza said Clemens appeared to shake off a few
pitches before the Boston outfielder deposited an 0-2 pitch to the seats in left
field.
"We were a little indecisive there," Piazza said. "I went through every
pitch. It was a front-door breaking ball, and (Ramirez) put on a pretty good
swing.
"I put it down and (Clemens) threw it. It wasn't the greatest location and
Ramirez is a great hitter. They had a couple of balls to right field and Sammy
(Sosa) had some trouble with the sun out there. It could have made a little
difference. But his velocity was as good as I've seen."
The AL dugout was energized by the Ramirez blast, but at least one teammate
wasn't surprised.
"Everybody knows Manny," said Boston and AL All-Star teammate David Ortiz.
"No one was surprised in the dugout when Manny hit the ball like that. Manny
puts so much into it every time he steps up to the plate. Manny is such a great
hitter. It was a good pitch. He's so good that he can stay with it and still
drive it like that. He said, 'I guess that's my first big hit in an All-Star
Game, as long as I've been playing in All-Star games.'"
The inning marked the most one team has scored in an All-Star Game since the
AL tallied a record seven runs in the third inning in 1983. It was also only the
second time in All-Star history a team has scored six runs in a single frame.
"He was excited to be starting in this All-Star Game," Clemens' Astros
teammate Carlos Beltran said. "This is his home crowd. To be able to play for
the Houston Astros and be able to start in the game here in Houston, it really
means a lot to him. He prepared himself. Unfortunately, he had a tough outing
today."
| "It was a tough go
of it," Clemens said. "I threw a couple of breaking balls and they hit them.
Going in, (Anaheim's Vladimir) Guerrero was the guy I was worried about the most
and he was the only guy I got out." |
| -- Roger
Clemens |
|
And it happens to the best of
them, said National League manager Jack McKeon.
"He's been a warrior," McKeon said. "You manage in this league so many years,
you say to them, 'Get to this guy early, because if you let him get by, he's
going to be tough.' We saw the same thing in the World Series last year with
Roger. We got a couple three runs off him in the first inning and the rest of
the night, he shut us down."
Said AL manager Joe Torre, Clemens' former Yankee skipper: "I was kidding all
week about scoring five or six runs off him in the first inning, never dreaming
it was ever possible."
McKeon's plan to pitch Clemens two innings changed rather abruptly when the
right-hander threw 35 pitches in the opening frame.
"We figured Roger might be able to go two, but after he threw 30-some odd
pitches, I don't think it was advisable to let him go," McKeon said. "And here
was a youngster (Dan Kolb) out here that could warm up quickly and had a chance
to get him in the game rather than go with (Randy) Johnson, who maybe we didn't
give enough time to warm up."
The crowd of 41,886 was given very little to cheer for until the fourth when
the National League scored three runs off Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia. Kent
knocked a two-out single, followed by a base hit by Beltran. Edgar Renteria
plated Kent with a ground-rule double down the left-field line, and two more
runs scored on a double by Albert Pujols.
Ortiz added a third homer for the AL in the sixth, a two-run shot that
increased the AL lead to five and was the second homer of the night from the Red
Sox contingent.
"Those guys have been doing it all year," said Yankees shortstop Jeter, happy
to have Ramirez and Ortiz on his side for once. "We've seen Manny and Ortiz
enough from playing against them so much."
American League starter Mark Mulder was credited with the win after holding
the NL to one run over two innings of work. Being staked to a 6-0 lead didn't
hurt.
"It actually helped me to relax," Mulder said of the big cushion. "It took
some of the nerves away."
"We didn't change the game plan or anything," said Rodriguez, the AL's
starting catcher. "Mulder was great. He kept the ball down and threw strikes,
just like he always does."
Along the way, Mulder retired Barry Bonds on a routine fly ball to center
field, which pleased him nearly as much as getting the win. When AL reliever
Esteban Loaiza walked Bonds later in the game, the sellout crowd showered him
with boos.
"I just didn't want to walk Bonds," Mulder said. "So everything was good
tonight."
For the second year in a row, the World Series will begin in the American
League ballpark.
Last year, the Yankees benefited from the AL All-Star win, garnering
home-field advantage in the Fall Classic against the eventual champion Florida
Marlins. The series lasted six games and ended on Josh Beckett's two-hit shutout
at Yankee Stadium.
Did Torre gain any satisfaction out of his league grabbing home-field
advantage again this year?
"It certainly helps when you get to go back home," he said. "We didn't take
advantage of that last year. Last year, we couldn't get to (Games 6 and 7). I
mean, we got to 6, but down 3-2, it's a tough thing."
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. Reporters Ian Browne, Jim Molony, Jesse Sanchez and
Mychael Urban also contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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