AMERICAN LEAGUE Yankees' Benitez closes Indians

New York rallied for five runs off Brian Anderson and Jason Boyd.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Armando Benitez made a successful debut in pinstripes.
The former Mets closer pitched two innings and held a four-run lead to help preserve Roger Clemens' 302nd win as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 10-4 Friday night.
Jason Giambi homered twice, Ruben Sierra also connected and Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run double for New York, which rallied against Cleveland for the second straight night and opened a four-game lead over second-place Boston in the AL East.
Trading places
Benitez, maligned by Mets fans for blowing seven of 28 save chances this year, was obtained by the Yankees on Wednesday in a trade for three prospects.
Clemens (9-6) failed to hold a 3-0 lead, allowing three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. But the Yankees rallied for five runs off Brian Anderson (7-7) and Jason Boyd in the sixth, an inning interrupted by a 61-minute rain delay.
Benitez entered with an 8-4 lead to a mixture of cheers and boos, and he struggled slightly with his control, throwing balls on 10 of 26 pitches over two innings and falling behind in the count at some point on six of seven batters. He also nearly hit plate umpire Laz Diaz trying to exchange baseballs after his second batter.
But Benitez escaped without allowing any runs, giving up one hit and striking out two. When he blew a 3-2 pitch by Milton Bradley to end the seventh, Yankees captain Derek Jeter gave the reliever a glove slap on the behind as he ran past.
Clemens allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings before the rain, and struck out eight, raising his career total to 4,045.
Mistake hurts
New York went ahead in the second on an error by second baseman John McDonald, who bounced a throw trying to complete what should have been an inning-ending double play on Raul Mondesi's grounder. Giambi crushed a pitch an inning later for a two-run homer.
But Clemens stumbled in the fourth, when Tim Laker hit an RBI double and scored on a two-run single by McDonald. Ben Broussard, who had been 1-for-9 against Clemens, hit a go-ahead single in the fifth for a 4-3 lead.
Indians trade Spencer, Rodriguez
Shane Spencer's career with the Indians came to a quick end after a half-season when he was dealt with right-hander Ricardo Rodriguez to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Ryan Ludwick on Friday night.
Ludwick, 25, was recalled from the minors July 3 and has hit .154 (4-for-26) in eight games. He hit .303 this season for Triple-A Oklahoma with 17 homers and 63 RBIs in 81 games.
Spencer, a 31-year-old outfielder, hit .271 for the Indians with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 210 at-bats.
Rodriguez, 25, is on the disabled list with a strained right hip and groin. He is 3-9 with a 5.73 ERA in 15 starts, but has faded, getting just one win in his last 12 starts.