Posted on 04/24/2005 8:20:36 AM PDT by Enterprise1788
ST. LOUIS - Roger Clemens stepped out of the trainer's room Saturday afternoon with ice wraps around his right elbow, right shoulder and lower back.
The greatness the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer exhibits on the mound takes a toll on his body.
The wraps made it easy to see where the soreness would be. But it wasn't as easy to see the exhausting mental drain Clemens absorbed while trying to beat the Cardinals with a listless offense on his side at Busch Stadium.
Yet again, the Astros failed to capitalize on seven scoreless innings from Clemens, who settled for a no-decision as Larry Walker hit a single to center to give St. Louis a 1-0 victory in 10 innings.
For the third consecutive start, Clemens pitched seven scoreless innings, but for his third consecutive start, the Astros lost 1-0 in extra innings.
"I think my body was a little more run down than in the first three starts," said Clemens, who has watched his teammates lose his starts in 11, 12 and 10 innings since winning his first start of the season. "I know it's a fact your body feels different. You can win these games 6-1, and mentally it's not as hard on your body.
"Again, I'll do the things to prepare and get ready for my next start and be ready for that challenge again."
Clemens held the Cardinals to four hits and four walks with six strikeouts, extending his scoreless-inning streak to 23 innings.
St. Louis lefthander Mark Mulder (2-1) countered with 10 scoreless innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts to give the Cardinals a chance to sweep the three-game series today.
"That's a great (St. Louis) lineup, so it just shows you how amazing Roger is and what he was doing," said Jason Lane, who was 1-for-4. "For us to not be able to scratch a run across for him is frustrating. But their guy was tough, too.
"I don't know many lineups that would have put up a bunch of hits with the way (Mulder) was throwing today. He was changing speeds, in and out, hitting spots. He had good stuff."
Chad Qualls relieved Clemens to start the eighth inning and forced extra innings before a crowd of 40,058. Reggie Sanders hit for Mulder (who threw 101 pitches) to leadoff the 10th and hit a tapper toward the third-base side for an infield single.
Sanders reached second on David Eckstein's groundout to second, prompting Astros manager Phil Garner to call on closer Brad Lidge. Walker greeted Lidge with a walk-off RBI single to center.
"Obviously Roger threw a great game, and Mark Mulder pitched incredibly," Lidge said. "That's kind of the story of the game, those guys battling. At some point, it's going to come down to the bullpens to see who gives in first. Unfortunately, they got to us."
Officially, Qualls (1-2) goes down as the losing pitcher, but the Astros realize the inept offense deserves the blame for wasting another brilliant performance from Clemens, who lowered his ERA to 0.32.
Despite throwing seven scoreless innings in each of his last three starts, Clemens remains tied with Steve Carlton for ninth place on the all-time victories list with 329.
Clemens has given up only one run through 28 innings this season, but his teammates have scored only three runs in games he has started. Since he drove in two of those runs in the sixth inning of his first start, the Astros have gone 35 consecutive innings without scoring a run in games Clemens has started.
If this were high school baseball, Clemens could follow his eldest son's lead. Koby Clemens did it all Friday night for Memorial High, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs while throwing a no-hitter in a 12-0 five-inning rout against Eisenhower.
But Roger Clemens pitches in the majors, where he needs teammates to contribute. Although Clemens' mound presence makes him seem invincible at times, each tight contest takes a toll.
"Especially when you know they have the last swing and the type of hitters they have, there's no doubt about it," said Clemens, who threw 126 pitches. "Your body just reacts differently. I can throw 120 pitches and win 5-1, 5-2, and not feel as bad as I will tomorrow.
"My body will feel it tomorrow, and I'll do the work that I need to do to make sure I get everything healed up and ready to go again."
Clemens worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first and third innings before settling in. He walked Scott Rolen to load the bases with two outs in the first inning, escaping unscathed when Roger Cedeño lined out to center.
After collecting the first two outs in the third, Clemens gave up a single to Albert Pujols and consecutive walks to Jim Edmonds and Rolen to load the bases again for Cedeño.
Cedeño stranded the bases loaded with a slow roller to Clemens, who took the grounder and tossed to catcher Brad Ausmus for the force at home.
"We didn't do a good job offensively. Obviously," Garner said. "I think (Mulder) pitched a pretty decent game, but we swung at a lot of balls that if we lay off of some of those, maybe it's a different story."
Clemens would gladly trade a higher ERA and keep the no-decisions if it meant another teammate earned the victory in relief.
"We lost, and I think that's the thing that's upsetting," Clemens said. "I've got enough wins by my name, so I'm not concerned about that. When you're able to go deep into these games and keep them close, especially on the road, you'd like to take advantage of that."
He should be 3-1 or 4-0....sheesh!
Why don't you tell that to his face instead of posting it here?
Roger Clemens may be a great pitcher, but he is also a Major League Jerk Ahole!
BTTT
Oh, How Special!
Next time you see your superstar buddy, ask him if God is still testing him!
You may not know what I'm talking about, you can be assured your buddy will!
Pls don't be so pretentious as to speak for me!
You sound like one of those losers who say TMI, or H-E-double hockey stick or ESBAM because your mommy won't let you say the actual words. Would it make you feel better if I said I'm sorry that I don't think that Pedro Martinez is a punk, because obviously me thinking this has somehow offended your honor or something. Whatever man. I'm not the one acting like a little baby over what other people think about one particular millionaire who plays a game for a living. I'm sure that Pedro Martinez is just heartbroken and suffering through sleepless nights over the fact that you think he is a punk. Get real. I guarantee you that he isn't just like I guarantee you that Roger Clemens doesn't care at all that I think he is punk. If you are a baseball fan and can't deal with the fact that people like and dislike different players than you need to get a life and stop acting so offended because I happen not to like someone who care less about you.
And yes, if Pedro Martinez was on the Yankees or Braves I would think he is a punk. And if Roger Clemens was on the Mets I would think he is the greatest pitcher around today. It's called being a baseball fan, don't take it so damn seriously.
I don't care what Roger Clemens did to Boston, I'm not a Red Sox fan. I don't like Clemens because of what he did to Piazza. First almost killing him by throwing a 95mph fastball to his ear, and second throwing a bat a him for absolutely no reason. But I'm a Mets; show me one Mets fan who likes him.
Now if he were to be traded to the Mets tomorrow my opinion of him would of course change and every other Mets fans opinion would probably change too. IT'S A GAME and not liking certain players on the other team is what fans do.
You looked up punk and found Don Zimmer?!
Okay ESBAM.
Okay ESBAM.
"Pls don't be so pretentious as to speak for me!"
Sorry 'bout dat I garontee! Is it mudbug season yet?
Consider the possibility that when Clemens is pitching the strike zone is larger. So to be fair, the umpire also calls a larger strike zone for the opposing pitcher too. Thus, the correlation between pitching great when facing Clemens and pitching mediocre the rest of the time when facing other pitchers.
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