Hough got the ball to start the top of the first inning and Wade Boggs flied out to left to start. Marty Barrett lined out to third and Dwight Evans hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Clemens began his dominance in the bottom of the first by catching Oddibe McDowell on the outside corner for strike three. Cecil Espy hit a bomb just foul before striking out swinging. Pete O'Brien popped up to left to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second although Mike Greenwell walked to start. Ellis Burks whiffed before Jody Reed dumped a single over the head of Curt Wilkerson. Jim Rice banged into a double play to end the inning.
Ruben Sierra led off the bottom of the second by popping up to Boggs in foul ground. Pete Incaviglia went down swinging before Gino Petralli dumped a single to left before Steve Buechele drew a walk. Jeff Kunkel was rung up for strike three and was unhappy about it to end the inning.
Todd Benzinger whiffed to open the top of the third inning before Rich Gedman grounded out to second. Boggs grounded out to second to end the inning. Wilkerson flied out to left to start the bottom of the third before Clemens caught a bunt popped up by McDowell. Espy popped up to short to end the inning.
Barrett walked to open the top of the fourth but Evans grounded into a double play. Greenwell popped up to second to end the inning. O'Brien grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fourth before Clemens blew away Sierra. Incaviglia struck out swinging again to end the inning.
The Sox hit into another double play in the top of the fifth although Burks popped up to first to start. Reed walked but got doubled off first on a line drive to third by Rice to end the inning. Clemens got Petralli to line out to center to begin the bottom of the fifth before blowing away Buechele. Kunkel swung at air to end the inning.
Boston beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the sixth as Benzinger grounded out to second to begin. Gedman grounded out to second and Boggs grounded out to first to end the inning.
Wilkerson popped up to left to open the bottom of the sixth before McDowell drew a walk. The alert Gedman gunned down McDowell trying to steal before Espy was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
The Sox broke through in the top of the seventh as Barrett drew a leadoff walk to start. Barrett was picked off and he popped up like Popeye to protest. He had to be escorted back to the dugout by armed security although the replay showed he was safe. Evans punctuated the missed call with a seeing eye single in the hole at short. Greenwell took a questionable ball four but Burks popped up to second. Reed broke the tie with a base hit past the diving Kunkel to score Evans. Rice grounded into a force to end the inning but the Sox led 1-0.
As Sox broadcaster Ned Martin said, Clemens came back with a "huge 1-0 lead" in the bottom of the seventh. O'Brien doubled to right to put the tying run at second but Sierra whiffed badly on a forkball. Incaviglia earned the hat trick with another strikeout as Joe Morgan hustled to the mound to ask Clemens if he can still go. Clemens told him to beat it although he walked Petralli. Buechele grounded out to third to end the inning.
Scott Fletcher took over for Kunkel as the Sox got some insurance in the top of the eighth inning. Benzinger singled passed the diving Wilkerson before Wilkerson went OLE! on a grounder by Gedman to put runners at the corners. Boggs flied out to center but Benzinger scored to increase the lead. Barrett hit into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Clemens held the lead in the bottom of the eighth as Fletcher popped up to third to begin. Wilkerson drew a walk as McDowell lost his bat on a huge swing before taking strike three. Burks made a great diving catch to rob Espy of a double to end the inning.
Evans grounded out to second to begin the top of the ninth before Greenwell walked. Greenwell swiped second but Burks took strike three. Reed flied out to right to end the inning. Clemens came back to finish the job but O'Brien doubled into the right field corner to start the bottom of the ninth. Sierra damn near tied the game but Greenwell caught the line drive at the wall. Incaviglia earned the golden sombrero by taking strike three but a wild pitch moved O'Brien to third. Clemens earned his 14th and final strikeout by getting Petralli to watch strike three go by to end the game. Clemens tossed a complete game, 3 hit shutout while striking out 14 for Boston's 12th win in a row with a 2-0 victory.
Hero of the Night is Roger Clemens. He won is 14th game of the season with a complete game, 3 hit shutout. He struck out 14 batters and lowered his ERA to 2.25.
The Good:
Marty Barrett walked twice in four plate appearances.
Mike Greenwell walked 3 times and stole a base.
Jody Reed was 2 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Todd Benzinger was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
The Bad:
Ellis Burks was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jim Rice was 0 for 3.
Rich Gedman was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Dwight Evans was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
This is something else. The season looked to be dead in the water two weeks ago and now the Sox have ripped off 12 wins in a row. Not only that, Clemens hasn't looked this good in two years. He's on pace to duplicate his 1986 season with 14 wins before August. Hough pitched great tonight but the Sox offense got the only runs they needed in timely fashion. I don't know how long this can last but its been a fun two weeks, that's for sure. The win improved the Sox to 55-42, 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it 13 in a row when they send Oil Can Boyd to the mound up against Jose Guzman and the Rangers at 9:35 PM Eastern Time at Arlington Park.
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