Clement superb in outdueling Lopez
Free agent pickup holds down powerful Orioles
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- There seemed to be no conceivable encore for the gem David Wells fired at the Orioles in the first game of this two-game series. But then Matt Clement came along Thursday night and defied that logic, pitching his guts out and again stifling the normally potent Baltimore bats.
Clement outdueled Orioles right-hander Rodrigo Lopez in what was easily an April classic, lifting the Sox to a tense, 1-0 victory at Camden Yards. There were defensive gems on both sides of the field, early and late.
"It was a great game," said Sox first baseman Kevin Millar. "Both pitchers going out there throwing strikes, mixing speeds. That's a good baseball game. Good game for us to win."
Ultimately, Clement's mastery (eight innings, eight hits, no runs, one walk, seven strikeouts) proved to be the difference as the Sox reeled off their seventh win in their last eight games. Keith Foulke came on in the ninth to save it, giving the Sox back-to-back shutouts for the first time since April 25-29, 2004, when they had three in a row.
The Red Sox were giddy about being able to get out of Baltimore before the big bats of Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Javy Lopez liven up again.
"It was a good two-game series," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "Let them go beat up on somebody because they're too good of hitters for that to last."
In a game like this, it's only fitting that the only run came on an infield groundout. Millar set the stage in the second inning, banging a leadoff double off the wall in left. Jason Varitek tapped an infield hit to short, and Millar was able to scoot to third when Tejada's throw short-hopped Palmeiro.
With one out, Ramon Vazquez -- who was subbing for ill third baseman Bill Mueller -- fought off an 0-2 pitch and got Millar home with a groundout to second. The only run of the game was unearned.
"He gets the ball in play and gets us a run," said Francona. "If he doesn't make contact, we still might be playing."
Clement, meanwhile, was at his best on a night he needed to be. He is now 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA.
"For me, it was a fun game," said Clement. "To be able to win a 1-0 game, that's good. I was on the other side of a couple of them last year. It's nice to be able to come out on the right side of one."
This one was much tougher to come by than the 8-0 romp on Wednesday.
The Orioles nearly tied the game in the fourth. Palmeiro beat Boston's shift, dropping a soft single toward third base, where nobody was playing. With two outs, Jay Gibbons smacked a double into the corner in right.
Palmeiro ran hard, but the Sox executed perfectly to cut him down at the plate. Right fielder Trot Nixon relayed to first baseman Millar, who then fired to the plate, as Varitek laid down the tag perfectly.
Clement, backing up the play, got a front-row view.
"That was a tough ball in the corner that Trot got, and Kevin made a perfect throw," Clement said. "If he doesn't make that throw, if that throw is off at all, he's safe. What a huge play."
There was more drama in the Baltimore eighth. With two outs, Mora reached on an infield hit to shortstop. Then Tejada hit a little roller to Millar.
Millar charged toward Tejada and lunged at him, but the first base umpire said he missed the tag. Millar argued the play, saying that he tagged Tejada on the foot, but the play stood.
That meant that Clement had to bear down against Sosa, and he did, inducing him into a grounder back to the box, making his 110th and final pitch of the night a success.
After playing with the Cubs the last three years, Clement knows what Sosa is capable of.
"For me, it was just going at Sammy hard," said Clement. "I have to go at a great hitter like that. I got him on a cutter, and fortunately I got my glove up there in time."
For the second night in a row, the Orioles could do nothing but throw praise to the opposing pitcher.
"Clement was really good," Gibbons said. "You weren't comfortable up there, because he would sink one and then he would cut one. So if you were looking away, all of a sudden he throws one on your hands. And it looked like he was doing it all night and kept everybody off-balance."
And the Sox gladly tiptoed out of Baltimore before those big bats could regain their balance.