And Clement? The A's had him at hello. He recorded only four outs in his shortest start since Sept. 27, 2001, when he exited after being struck on the wrist by a Brian Jordan liner.
He left yesterday after 1 1/3 innings, the Sox behind, 7-0, which would become 12-0 on Jeremi Gonzalez's watch, before ending at 12-3. Clement, in his last three starts (vs. Los Angeles, at Toronto, vs. Oakland), is 0-3 with 20 hits and 16 runs allowed in 14 innings. That's a 10.29 ERA. He's allowed as many combined homers (2) and walks (5) in those games as he has registered strikeouts (7).
''I always want to give a guy a chance to pitch his way into it," said manager Terry Francona, who walked to the mound to relieve Clement amid boos in the top of the second. ''Everything seemed flat, much flatter than normal. There were a lot of balls hit [hard], even some of the outs."
The day's good news? Derek Jeter was punched out looking in Toronto with the tying run, Robinson Cano, on second base. That kept the Sox' 1 1/2-game lead intact, with 13 to play.
One reporter, among an usually large swarm near Jason Varitek, asked the captain if this was a bad way to enter the team's final regular-season trip (three games at Tampa Bay, three at Baltimore).
''We got pounded today, plain and simple," Varitek said.
The club, Varitek added, is not going to fall into a mind-set of ''Oh boy, we're starting a road trip today, we got pounded, the season is over. That's a crock of you know what. This team doesn't do that. We're not about to do that. We've got 13 games left. Thirteen games. Let's turn the corner."
Clement will have to wait five days to turn that personal corner, after a third consecutive unsettling showing.
Mark Ellis drove Clement's third pitch of the day over Manny Ramirez's head for a long single. Jason Kendall lined pitch No. 7 to left. Mark Kotsay roped pitch No. 12 down the line in right for a ground-rule double. Eric Chavez shot pitch No. 13 to right. Scott Hatteberg bounced pitch No. 18 just over a leaping John Olerud, and the rout was on.
Clement later was asked when he knew he didn't have his best stuff.
