BRONX, N.Y. — On this date in 2001, the Bronx Bombers marked Opening Day at Yankee Stadium with some fireworks and the Rocket’s red glare. The three-time defending World Series champion New York Yankees shook off a meaningless nine-win spring training with a 7-3 thumping of the Kansas City Royals.
On the bump, in what would be a Cy Young campaign, Roger Clemens fired 8.1 frames, scattering seven hits, yielding three runs, one walk and fanning five. Among those five was a strikeout of Royals’ third baseman Joe Randa in the first frame. That strikeout moved the ‘Rocket’ to most all-time in the Junior Circuit with 3,509 K’s in his career, surpassing the ‘Big Train,’ Walter Johnson.
Blasting the baseball for the Bronx Bombers, Tino Martinez jumped the Yankees out to a 1-0 edge with a home run to right-center off Jeff Suppan in the fourth frame.
Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, the power surge returned. Bernie Williams went boom, drilling a 3-0 offering from Suppan to dead center for a two-run bomb.
Later in the frame, after Suppan issued consecutive free passes to David Justice and Martinez, Jorge Posada smoked a three-run tater to left-center off Tony Cogan, increasing the advantage to 6-2.
