The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The moment will pass without Roger Clemens' four sons witnessing it.

After 20 seasons, 605 starts, 309 victories and 4,096 strikeouts, Clemens will take the mound today against Baltimore for his final regular-season start. His family, however, will remain in Texas.

"Football's going on," Clemens said Friday. "I'm second fiddle."

Clemens, with 16 victories and 187 strikeouts this season, will try to add to those totals as the Yankees play Baltimore in their second-to-last game of the regular season. He is guaranteed at least one more start, in Game 3 of the Yankees' first-round series against Minnesota. Manager Joe Torre announced his playoff rotation Friday, giving the 41-year-old Clemens the start at the Metrodome. That could end up being the last major-league appearance for Clemens, who says he has no regrets about making this season his last.

"I know I can still do it. But I've done it," Clemens said. "I've touched everything I wanted to hit on. I'm just excited about the opportunity to get back to the postseason one more time before this all comes to a close."

RED SOX: Pedro Martinez will start for the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in Game 1 of their playoff opener against Oakland. Red Sox manager Grady Little announced the move Friday.

TWINS: Third-base coach Al Newman was released from a Chicago hospital, the team announced Friday, 16 days after he suffered a brain hemorrhage before a game.

Newman, along with a team physician and general manager Terry Ryan, flew from Chicago to Minnesota on owner Carl Pohlad's jet.

ROYALS: Carlos Beltran had three RBI in Kansas City's 7-3 win over the White Sox on Thursday night, giving the 26-year-old switch-hitter 99 RBI. With 101 runs scored and 41 stolen bases, Beltran is on the verge of becoming only the sixth player since 1900 to record 100 RBI, 100 runs and 30 steals in a season.

GRACE RETIRES: Mark Grace, a career .303 hitter and one of the most likable players in baseball, will retire at the end of his 16th major-league season. His announcement at a news conference Friday came as no surprise after the 39-year-old first baseman mostly sat and watched this season. Grace won four Gold Gloves and played in three All-Star Games.