Reeling Clement arm wary

MINNEAPOLIS -- Matt Clement struggled again last night and today he will fly home to Boston to be seen by the Red Sox medical staff.

His next start is scheduled for Monday against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park, where an impatient Nation waits for the veteran hurler to deliver the goods. But at this hour the Sox want to find out if there's anything physically wrong with the righthander. He has experienced cramping in his right biceps in recent starts.

``I've got to get it checked out," Clement said after a hideous 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins. ``Hopefully, this is just that one start in between where you have your timing off and I'll be able to get back out there as soon as possible . . . It's something that slows me up and I guess scares my body enough that it affects the way I throw."

``I hope this is just a precaution," added Sox manager Terry Francona. ``Hopefully, he'll get a clean bill of health and that will clear up his mind."

Clement hadn't pitched in nine days. He was given some extra time after experiencing the cramping. But the rest didn't help. He put 12 runners on base in a mere 4 2/3 innings. Officially speaking, Clement gave up only three runs, but he walked six, hit a batter, struck out none, and allowed five hits in his shoddy stint.

``It's tough to go out there not knowing what your arm's going to do each time," said Clement. ``But you can't be pessimistic and sit and wait for something to be going on. I felt good, but you don't know exactly how it's going to respond . . . It's taken me a little bit of time to get loose between innings and I really don't know what to expect."

This was a night when the Sox could not afford a short outing by their starting pitcher. Keith Foulke just went on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis and Francona was forced to use three relievers in Tuesday's thrilling, 12-inning loss.

Clement's early exit forced Francona to go to the bullpen in the fifth, allowing reliever Jermaine Van Buren and Manny Delcarmen to put a torch to the game.

At this hour, the Red Sox don't have enough pitching. But before anything happens, the Sox need to learn more about Clement's physical status.

``We've got to try to figure out what's going on," said the manager. ``Hopefully, it's just fatigue."

Making $9.5 million this year, Clement is 5-5 with a 6.61 ERA. He's won only once since May 19 and in four starts since that date he's allowed 20 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings. He's hasn't been the same pitcher since he took a line drive off the side of his head in Tampa last July 26.

Clement felt cramping in his right biceps when he pitched against Toronto May 29 and got a few extra days of rest when the pain returned after starting in Detroit June 4.

His return to the mound was hardly encouraging and could have been worse. With one out in the third inning, he walked three consecutive batters but escaped when Torii Hunter grounded into a double play on the first pitch.

It was a 3-1 game when Clement came out for the fifth, but after another single and another two-out walk, Francona came out with the hook. Clement threw 91 pitches, only 46 for strikes.

``When you get into the bullpen that early, it hurts our chances to win," said Francona.