Roger Clemens took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Johnny Damon drove in two runs to fuel the New York Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Red Sox, their second in a row at Yankee Stadium over Boston.

The Yankees (74-59) are six games behind the Red Sox (80-53) in the AL Eastern Division and also moved percentage points behind leader Seattle (73-58) for the race for the AL wild-card playoff berth.

Clemens held Boston hitless for 5 1/3 innings. It is true that during this time, he walked a season-high five batters and a hit a batter, but this was still a great performance. David Ortiz ended Clemens’ no-hitter with a solo home run. In the end, Yankees’ pitcher emerged giving up only one run on two hits for the evening, and he left with a 3-1 lead.

“A guy like that, you don’t use power,” Mariano Rivera said of Clemens. “You use your experience. That’s what he did.”

The 45-year-old pitcher was throwing against the Red Sox for the first time since they rocked him in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in 2003. That was meant to be Clemens’ final appearance at Yankee Stadium and, as such, Clemens was celebrated with a standing ovation from the 56,279 fans, even though he pitched only three innings.

The Yankees were trailing 5-2 in that game, but in the eighth inning the Yankees rallied for three runs to send it into extra innings. Aaron Boone homered to lead off the 11th, propelling the Bombers to a World Series appointment with the Marlins. Clemens was sure of his retirement, but he just couldn’t do it.
 
He returned in 2004 with the Astros, the first of three years playing in his hometown. Now he’s struggling with new challenges, but is more than just another starter on a disappointing team. Clemens inspires younger pitchers and that’s big.