Clemens Powers to 200th Victory

NEW YORK — The Rocket arrived at another career milestone Wednesday night.

Roger Clemens earned his 200th victory and his eighth consecutive of 1997, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-1 victory over the New York Yankees.

Clemens (8-0) became the 94th pitcher to reach the 200-victory plateau with the same type of performance that has made him baseball’s most dominant pitcher the past decade.

Relying almost exclusively on his fastball, Clemens overpowered the Yankees, who entered the game as the AL’s second-best hitting club. Clemens gave up four hits in eight innings, striking out 12--including seven of 10 from the fourth through sixth innings.

It was the 71st time in his career that Clemens struck out 10 or more in a game. Clemens, who won his first 192 games during 13 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, allowed the Yankees to hit just five balls out of the infield.

Only Wade Boggs, who played with Clemens for nine seasons in Boston, seemed to have a clue against him at the plate. Boggs flicked a double down the left-field line in the first inning, and brought home the Yankees’ run with a run-scoring groundout in the eighth.

Ed Sprague hit a three-run homer off Kenny Rogers (3-2), and Joe Carter went two for four as the Blue Jays swept the two-game series.

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NEXT SERIES FOR ANGELS

WHO: Toronto Blue Jays

WHERE: At Toronto

WHEN: Friday 4:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m., Sunday 10 a.m.