ROCKET SCRUBBED ELEMENTS, BOSTON KEEP CLEMENS FROM 300 BOSTON 8, NEW YORK 4.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

NEW YORK - Roger Clemens' bid to win his 300th game was a washout Monday afternoon, particularly after the rain stopped.

Clemens, the five-time American League Cy Young Award winner, was hoping to become the 21st pitcher to reach that victory plateau and the first since Nolan Ryan in 1990. But a combination of the elements, his slumping New York Yankees and the presence of his former team, the Boston Red Sox, resulted in an 8-4 loss that postponed history at least another five days.

``I know 300 is going to come, it's just a question of when,'' Clemens said. ``At least I hope so.''

Although an excited crowd at Yankee Stadium never quite reached the announced 55,093, many fans, including former mayor Rudy Giuliani, sat through a 1-hour, 42-minute rain delay before the start the game.

At the very moment Clemens finally ran to the mound, the sun burst through stormy skies, as if on cue.

But the clouds remained for the Yankees, who now have dropped five consecutive games and eight in a row at home. After opening the season 19-3, the Yankees have gone 10-19 and dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

Before Clemens threw his first pitch, Red Sox manager Grady Little approached umpire crew chief Joe West about a logo on the pitcher's glove. The commissioner's office had given the glove to Clemens embossed with ``300'' to commemorate the event. West made Clemens throw the glove out of play and use another. He never seemed in sync after that.

``We weren't going to let anyone get inside our heads,'' first baseman Shea Hillenbrand said.

Instead, it was Clemens who was rattled. He threw 97 pitches in the first four innings and allowed 10 hits and eight runs before leaving with two outs in the sixth.

Clemens walked Trot Nixon with the bases loaded in the fourth to force home Scott Walker with the Red Sox's fourth run. Earlier in the inning, Walker reached third on the first of two Clemens wild pitches. Of his 10 hits allowed, eight came with two strikes.

And after settling down by striking out the side in the fifth, Clemens couldn't get out of the sixth, finishing with a whopping 133 pitches as his record dropped to 6-3.

``I think there was so much going on, I know it was a lot for him,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. ``The 300th win, the crowd and having his family at the game. That is a lot to take on in addition to trying to get the team back on track.''

Despite the rough outing, Clemens was in the game after New York scored three runs in the fourth against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (5-2). But the Red Sox put Clemens away one inning later when they scored three more runs.

Torre came to the mound and Clemens walked off to a thunderous ovation from the crowd. By the end of the inning, though, Giuliani and many other fans were heading home.

``I told him I was going to pitch him at least five,'' Torre said. ``That's what you need to get the win. I was hoping he would get the record at Yankee Stadium. I don't hope that anymore. We're heading out of town and that would mean it took awhile to get.''

It is uncertain when Clemens will get his next chance. It will come either Friday or Saturday in Detroit. David Wells, who was battered around by Toronto on Sunday, is expected to miss his next start.

Torre does not like to pitch his starters out of sequence, but the Yankees have off days on Thursday and Monday.

All this makes for more distractions for Clemens. He doesn't want his family trotting all over the country to see him win his 300th.

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Roger Clemens allowed eight runs on 10 hits Monday against his old team, failing to win his 300th career game.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

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