Matt Clement pitches a rare complete game, his first since 2003, as Boston takes the deciding game against the Atlanta Braves.

09:30 AM EDT on Monday, May 23, 2005

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- In his last start, Tuesday night in Oakland, Matt Clement was not happy about being taken out of the game in the fifth inning. As the TV cameras followed him from the mound into the dugout, Clement exploded, taking his frustration out on some stray items.

AP photo

Matt Clement was dominant yesterday, allowing no walks for the first time this season and at one point retiring 14 Atlanta hitters in a row.

By contrast, when Clement left the mound yesterday, there was a celebration in the infield and an embrace with catcher Jason Varitek for a job well done -- and completed. Clement went the distance for just the sixth time in his career, allowing just four hits in a thoroughly impressive 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

"I think," theorized Terry Francona, "he's tired of me coming to get (the ball). He took it into his own hands. He was outstanding. . . . He stayed aggressive and just attacked the strike zone. He was outstanding. There was no reason to go get him."

Clement retired the first nine Braves in order before encountering a bit of difficulty in the fourth when the Braves used three hits, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly to grab a 2-0 lead.

But starting with Johnny Estrada's sacrifice fly for the second out in the fourth, Clement retired the next 14 hitters in a row. Except for a harmless

leadoff single by Pete Orr in the ninth, the Braves only had baserunners in their two-run fourth.

Clement needed just 110 pitches to finish, and didn't issue a single walk in recording his first complete game since Aug. 29, 2003. Yesterday marked only the fourth time since the start of the 2002 season that Clement had pitched eight innings or more without walking a batter.

"Efficient doesn't usually get put by my name," a smiling Clement said. "I don't think everything was perfect, but everything worked. I made pitches when I had to and I was getting ahead.

"Anytime you get to throw a complete game you're pretty happy. It gives you momentum to build off of, and against a team like the Braves, it was exciting."

"It was his best day of (throwing) strike one," said Varitek. "And if it wasn't strike one, he made a quality pitch on his next pitch."

As strong as Clement was, the Sox still found themselves trailing heading into the bottom of the fifth. They had exactly two baserunners on in each of the first four innings but couldn't produce the big hit when it was needed. Case in point: the fourth inning, when singles by Bill Mueller and Mark Bellhorn were wasted as Johnny Damon grounded into a double play and embattled shortstop Edgar Renteria fouled out to first.

Two innings earlier, Renteria had come to the plate with the bases loaded andf gone down swinging.

But while the seven hits and two walks through the first four innings didn't result in any runs, they did serve to drive up the pitch count of Atlanta starter John Smoltz. Through four innings, he had already thrown 82 pitches.

In the fifth, the Sox finally cashed in. With runners on the corners and two out, Kevin Youklis lined a single to left, scoring David Ortiz and slicing the Braves' lead in half.

"I was just trying to tell myself to sit back," said Youkilis, filling in at first for the injured Kevin Millar. "He left a slider out over the plate."

A single up the middle by Bill Mueller delivered Varitek, tying the score and bringing an end to Smoltz's afternoon.

"Anytime you can get him out early," Varitek said, "that's a bonus for your team."

The Sox took control of the game for good in the sixth when David Ortiz doubled home Damon and Manny Ramirez homered into the bullpen.

The homer, coupled with a single to center in the third and a single to right in the eighth, produced a three-hit afternoon for Ramirez, who had come into the afternoon with just two hits in his previous 19 at-bats (.105).

"When you're hitting balls hard the other way," Francona said, "it's hard not to feel good about yourself."

Still, the game turned on Clement's dominant performance on the mound. He improved to 5-0 for the first time in his career and snapped a personal two-game winless streak.

And, of course, he went the distance, taking any decision-making out of his manager's hands.

"You want to have a pretty good reason to take a guy out," said Francona, "and I didn't have one."