Rodriguez Is Hit, but Clemens Delivers Final Blow

Yankees 9, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO, Aug. 7 — Retaliating for a teammate is part of the persona of Roger Clemens, the consummate gunslinger in double-knits. But he does not seem to relish the task, and he put it off on Tuesday until the seventh inning, with his 90th pitch.

consummate a. 完美的；熟練的
gunslinger n. 帶槍的人
relish v. 享受，喜愛


When retaliation came, though, it was unmistakable. It hummed in at 92 miles an hour and thumped into the back of the Toronto Blue Jays' Alex Rios, earning an immediate ejection for Clemens and Manager Joe Torre, who saw the end of a 9-2 Yankees victory from the clubhouse at Rogers Center.

thump v. 重擊(+into)

“I've been in those situations before,” Clemens said, “and they're never good.”

Clemens was answering the Blue Jays' actions toward Alex Rodriguez, who was hit in the calf by a fastball from Josh Towers in the third inning, causing the benches and bullpens to clear twice before Towers's next pitch.

The Yankees had a seven-run lead when Clemens hit Rios, and they went on to win, getting two doubles and a triple from Melky Cabrera and four runs batted in from Bobby Abreu.

It was the Yankees' eighth victory in nine games, and Joba Chamberlain finished it with two scoreless innings, striking out two and hitting 100 m.p.h. on the television radar gun. It was a wild night to make a major league debut.

“Yeah, you can say that,” said Chamberlain, who counted 27 missed calls and 41 text messages on his cellphone after the game. “But you only get one first time, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.”

Chamberlain threw his second warm-up pitch to the backstop and fell behind his first hitter, Ray Olmedo, two balls and no strikes. But he recovered to fan Olmedo on an 88-mile-an-hour slider, and after a groundout, a walk and a single, he broke Vernon Wells’s bat with a fastball on a lazy fly out to left.

In the ninth, Chamberlain struck out Curtis Thigpen with a slider and walked Hector Luna on four pitches. When Aaron Hill grounded to second to start a game-ending double play, Chamberlain punched the air and pointed to the sky.

“He's electric,” Torre said. “It just looked like his slider was mean, really.”

electric a. 令人震驚的
mean a. 【美】【俚】出色的，很棒的


There were two out in the top of the third when Bobby Abreu tripled home Johnny Damon to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Rodriguez came up next, and Towers's first pitch drilled him in the calf. It eventually caused Rodriguez to leave the game, Torre said.

drill v. 鑽孔

“He got me pretty good,” Rodriguez said. “We'll see how I wake up in the morning.”

The Blue Jays did not throw near Rodriguez when they faced the Yankees last month in New York, a possible sign that they held no grudge over the incident on May 30 when Rodriguez distracted Toronto’s Howie Clark from catching a pop-up by yelling as he rounded the bases. (Clark was sent to the minors on Tuesday.)

grudge n. 怨恨，嫌隙

Jesse Litsch threw behind Rodriguez with his first pitch to him on Monday, and though Rodriguez did not react, he took a hard slide later in the game. This time, it seemed, he had had enough.

Rodriguez took a few steps toward the mound, holding his bat below his waist but pointing it at Towers. Rodriguez jawed at Towers, who yelled something back, prompting an expletive from Rodriguez.

jaw v. 【口】嘮叨
expletive n. 咒罵詞


Ángel Hernández, the plate umpire, got between Rodriguez and catcher Gregg Zaun. The dugouts and bullpens emptied, and players and coaches quickly swarmed around Rodriguez, Zaun and Towers.

swarm v. 群集

“They got fired up,” Rodriguez said. “We looked like a football team out there.”

There was a lot of heated talk, but no punches, little shoving and no ejections. Everyone returned to their seats and Rodriguez took first base. Yet before Towers’s next pitch, with Rodriguez standing at first, the dugouts and bullpens cleared again.

shove v. 推擠

This skirmish was between Towers and Tony Peña, the first-base coach. Peña said later he was simply mad that Rodriguez had been hit. Referring to Towers, he cursed and said, “Tell him to get some people out.”

skirmish n. 小衝突
curse v. 咒罵，詛咒


That seemed like a reaction to comments Towers had just made to Toronto reporters, referring to Peña's abbreviated stint as the manager of the Kansas City Royals.

“It was Tony Peña running his mouth,” Towers said. “I was like: What is this guy running his mouth for? This dude is a quitter. He managed a team and quit in the middle of the season because he couldn't hack it. He's going to run his mouth to me?”

dude n. 【美】【俚】男人，男孩
quitter n. 輕易放棄工作的人
hack v. 【美】【口】對付，處理


There were still no ejections, but the umpires spoke with Towers, who promptly gave up a two-run double to Jorge Posada. Melky Cabrera tripled and scored in the fourth, making it 4-0, and the way Clemens was pitching, it was essentially a rout.

rout n. 潰敗

Clemens allowed two hits and one run, striking out six with a lively fastball and a plunging splitter. But now he may face a suspension for protecting Rodriguez.

plunging a. 突進的

“I don't have any control over that,” Clemens said. “Obviously, I hope not. It is what it is.”