ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
What Boston's Roger Clemens did as a 23-year-old in 1986 he did again as a 33-year-old Wednesday night:
He struck out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, a feat no other pitcher has accomplished in major-league history.
Clemens four-hit the Tigers, 4-0, at Tiger Stadium. With many fans in the paltry crowd on their feet, Clemens struck out Travis Fryman swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the game, matching his own record.
``I'm a pitcher,'' Clemens said, asked about matching the record 10 years later. ``I'm not a thrower. If you're going to continue to do this to your arm and your body, you have to be willing to work extremely hard. I still enjoy running and working out.''
Clemens pumped his fist, and his teammates rushed out of the dugout to envelop him. The crowd, announced at 8,779, applauded. The fans were never informed of Clemens' strikeout total via the message board or public address system. But there obviously were enough people with radios to spread the word.
Before leaving the field for good, Clemens grabbed a handful of dirt from the mound. For much of the night, it appeared Clemens could break his record, which he set in Boston against Seattle on April 29, 1986. On that night, as on Wednesday, he didn't walk a batter.
Against the strikeout-prone Tigers, his first 17 came during a span of 21 batters through the seventh inning. The streak began after Alan Trammell got an infield hit with one out in the first.
``No-hitters have some luck involved,'' Tigers manager Buddy Bell said. ``This was a dominant performance, the best pitching performance I've ever seen. I saw Mike Witt's perfect game, five or six no-hitters. And I don't mean to take anything away from those guys - this is as good as it gets.''
Clemens got Nos. 18 and 19 for the first two outs of the eighth inning, tying the highest total for any other pitcher in a nine-inning game. By this point, the crowd was cheering for Clemens.
But then Clemens, who hadn't gone more than two batters without a strikeout, saw the next four batters put the ball in play. Two of them, Bobby Higginson and Tony Clark, did so with two strikes.
Clemens needed to fan Clark for the second out of the ninth to keep a chance of breaking the record, barring a third strike escaping the catcher. Clark fell behind, 0-2, then took a ball just off the plate.
Clark fouled the next pitch, took ball two high and away, fouled another, then flied to left.
Up came Fryman. Clemens fell behind, 2-0, then put over a called strike. Fryman swung for strike two. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat and Clemens' 151st of the game, Fryman swung and missed for his fourth whiff of the game.
Clemens had his three major pitches working: fastball, slider and split-finger fastball. It was probably the most overpowering pitching performance in Tiger Stadium since Nolan Ryan's 17-strikeout no-hitter for California in 1973. That is the most recent no-hitter in Tiger Stadium.
Some of the conditions were perfect for Clemens. It was 70 degrees at game time. He was facing a team that had lost 10 straight and is within days of setting the all-time record for most strikeouts by a team in a season.
With the victory, Clemens (10-12) matched Cy Young's Boston franchise record of 192 career victories.
Boston took the lead with a 3-0 lead with a three-run fourth against Justin Thompson. Former Tiger Rudy Pemberton had a bloop RBI double in the inning. Pemberton doubled and scored the final Boston run against reliever A.J. Sager in the eighth.
Clemens was on the 20-plus strikeout pace throughout the game: seven strikeouts through three, 12 through five, and 15 through six.
After Ruben Sierra grounded out to start the seventh, Clemens fanned Clark and Fryman, each for the third time in as many at-bats. That gave him 17, surpassing the previous second-highest total of his career. In 1988, he had two 16-strikeout games against Kansas City.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB