Yanks beat Tigers for Clemens' 353rd win

Roger Clemens won in his return from a suspension and Bobby Abreu hit a go-ahead homer that clanked off the foul pole, carrying the New York Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Clemens gave up Cameron Maybin's first major league homer but pitched out of trouble for six innings, striking out eight to match his season high. Jorge Posada also homered and finished with three hits for the Yankees, who took control by scoring four times in the sixth.

Mariano Rivera tossed a hitless ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances, a huge sigh of relief for New York. Rivera struggled in his previous two outings, blowing a save and taking a loss, before consecutive days off.

Clemens (5-5) gave up 10 hits, his most since allowing 11 on Sept. 19, 2005, with Houston at Pittsburgh, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He was working on 10 days' rest after serving a five-game suspension for hitting Alex Rios in the back with a pitch on Aug. 7 during a testy series in Toronto.

The Rocket walked none in his 353rd career win and tagged out Brandon Inge for an unusual caught stealing that helped him escape unscathed in the third.

One hitter who had Clemens squared up was Gary Sheffield, to the chagrin of the sellout crowd of 54,802. The former Yankees slugger, booed loudly again, went 3-for-3 with a double against Clemens, making him 11-for-18 (.611) lifetime against the right-hander.

The crowd roared when Kyle Farnsworth fanned Sheffield in the seventh, however. Farnsworth also struck out Magglio Ordonez on a 98 mph fastball to finish a perfect inning, another encouraging sign for the much-maligned reliever.

Luis Vizcaino pitched a scoreless eighth to set up Rivera.

Posada hit a solo shot to left-center off Chad Durbin (7-6) in the second, putting New York ahead. Ryan Raburn's bases-loaded sacrifice fly tied it in the fourth.

The Tigers had runners at the corners in the third when Marcus Thames struck out on a 3-2 pitch. With Maybin running from first, Posada fired toward second, but Clemens reached out and intercepted the throw with a surprising stab.

Inge, who had broken for the plate, was trapped off third and tagged out by Clemens for a rare 2-2-1 double play that ended the inning.

After Maybin's homer put Detroit up 2-1, Derek Jeter singled to start the sixth and Abreu sliced a drive that caromed off the left-field foul pole and into the stands for a two-run shot.

It was his 14th homer this season and ninth since the All-Star break.

Robinson Cano hit a two-out RBI single to left off reliever Tim Byrdak, and Maybin didn't get much on his throw home. Andy Phillips followed with an RBI single off Jason Grilli to make it 5-2.

Maybin, called up Friday after only six games in Double-A, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against Andy Pettitte during a rough big league debut. Considered one of the top prospects in baseball, Maybin also looked shaky in left field.

He got off to another tough start Saturday when he appeared to call off third baseman Inge on Jason Giambi's second-inning popup, then came up short on a dive and let the ball drop for a double. Maybin, normally a center fielder, was greeted by manager Jim Leyland for a quick chat in the dugout after the inning.

But the 20-year-old Maybin began to display his talents in the third, when he had a perfectly executed hit-and-run single for his first career hit. In the fifth, he drove a 1-1 pitch over the center-field fence, just to the right of the 408-foot sign, and the ball caromed back onto the field after hitting a back wall.

Maybin flashed a gleaming smile in the dugout, then came up with a chance to do more damage in the sixth. With two outs, Clemens hit the rookie in the right wrist, loading the bases. But Clemens retired Curtis Granderson to end the inning.

Notes:@ Clemens is 26-11 against Detroit. ... Durbin has lost his last three starts. ... All-Star 2B Placido Polanco missed his fifth consecutive game because of the flu that hit several Tigers recently. He took batting practice before the game and was expected to play Sunday. ... Sheffield entered 0-for-7 in the series.