Clemens replaced on roster before Yankees' loss

Baseball Betting Lines

10/09/2007 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The possibility that Roger Clemens has made the final appearance of his Hall of Fame career became even more likely Monday.

The Yankees replaced him on their AL Division Series roster with lefty reliever Ron Villone and New York was then eliminated from the playoffs, losing Game 4 in its American League Division Series to Cleveland, 6-4.

Per MLB rules, a team can replace an injured player during the division round, but that player is ineligible for the championship series. Clemens, therefore, would not have been able to return to action this postseason unless the Yankees made the World Series.

Clemens left Sunday's playoff game against Cleveland due to a strained left hamstring. Clemens, who was making his 12th career Division Series start and ninth ALDS start, was removed after striking out Victor Martinez for the first out of the third inning.

The Yankees rallied to win the game, 8-4, forcing the fourth game.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner was making his first start since September 16 due to a similar injury. He left with the Yankees behind in Game 3.

The 45-year-old right-hander, who finished the season 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA, hadn't pitched in the postseason since a hamstring injury forced him out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, while with Houston.

Ryan Garko hit an RBI single off Clemens in the first inning, Trot Nixon belted a solo homer with one out in the second, and Clemens walked Travis Hafner to start the third before fanning Martinez. Clemens was charged with four hits and three runs over 2 1/3 innings. He also walked two and had the one strikeout.

Clemens was signed by the Yankees as a free agent to a minor league contract on May 6 this year, his 24th season in the majors. His deal for this year was pro-rated at about $17.4 million.

Villone, 37, was 0-0 with a 4.25 earned run average in 37 appearances with the Yankees in 2007. He recorded one out in Monday's game.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.