Clemens wins 13th straight decision

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Another win and another record for "The Rocket."

The Yankees' Roger Clemens became the first AL pitcher ever to win 17 of his first 18 decisions in a season, and only the fourth major leaguer to do it since 1900 as New York beat the Anaheim Angels 7-5 Saturday.

"He's going to be in the record book a lot, and this is another notch for him," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He's remarkable. He's 39 years old and has the body of a 30-year-old.

"He's won five Cy Youngs and he's not living off it; he's out there trying to better it."

Winning his 13th straight decision, Clemens held the Angels to two runs on seven hits in seven innings. His fastball still hit 96 mph, and he struck out four and walked two in his 277th career victory.

Clemens was surprised to learn he was the first American Leaguer to win 17 of his first 18 decisions.

"I wasn't aware of that until after the game," Clemens said. "It's exciting. It's special."

The others to do it were Rube Marquard of the New York Giants (19-1 in 1912); Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers (18-1 in 1955); and Elroy Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates (18-1 in 1959).

Clemens, who tops the AL in wins this year, was dealt his only loss at Seattle on May 20.

	Roger Clemens Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L Sv K ERA 27 17 1 0 176 3.56

"He's having a magical year, there's no doubt about it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's putting it together. With his stuff, he's still very, very good and he has a tremendously talented team behind him."

A couple of other Yankees reached marks in the win: Paul O'Neill, 39, hit his 20th homer to become the oldest player in modern major league history with 20 homers and 20 steals in the same season; and Bernie Williams, who hadn't homered since July 28, finally hit the 200th of his career.

"I haven't hit a home run for a long time, so it was gratifying, especially because this is where I hit my first one (in 1991) and because it had an impact on the game," Williams said.

His two-run homer off Lou Pote in the seventh inning, his 19th of the season, built New York's lead to 7-1.

The shot over the left-field wall made the 33-year-old star the 11th Yankees player to reach the 200-homer plateau. Babe Ruth tops the club list with 659 career homers. Bill Dickey is 10th at 202.

Williams also doubled, walked and scored twice. The Yankees scored five times on seven hits and three walks in four-plus innings against Ismael Valdes (8-8).

O'Neill's solo homer came against Valdes in the fifth inning.

"It's kind of happened because I've been able to run and stay healthy," O'Neill said of his 20-20 feat. "Hopefully I can do it again next year."

Troy Glaus hit an RBI double in the Angels' first, and Adam Kennedy doubled home a run in the sixth. Glaus scored on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Mariano Rivera gave up Shawn Wooten's RBI single before getting the last out for his 40th save.

Clemens, who allowed hits by the first three batters he faced, said, "That got my attention. I said, `I've really got to kick it into gear."'

He didn't allow another hit until the fifth inning.

After falling behind, New York came back to score three times in the second inning, with Jorge Posada's two-run double and Enrique Wilson's RBI single among five hits off Valdes in the inning.

Game notes
Tino Martinez returned to the Yankees' lineup after sitting out four games after he strained his left groin on Monday. He was the DH, instead of playing first base, and went 1-for-4. ... Clemens' longest winning streak is 20 games, over the 1998-99 seasons. He won 14 in a row in 1986. He is 26-3 with 16 no-decisions since coming off the DL on July 2 of last year. In Clemens' 6-2 loss at Seattle, he allowed six runs on six hits in seven innings. He came back to win his next eight starts. His 13-game win streak has come over a span of 17 starts. ... Anaheim CF Darin Erstad left the game with a sore leg muscle after batting in the seventh inning. The injury wasn't thought to be serious. ... The Angels haven't had much success against Clemens. He has a 27-8 against them in his career.