NEW YORK (AP) -- The Yankees tossed around words like "ugly" and "awful."

No matter. New York finally got a win from a starter other than Orlando Hernandez.

Roger Clemens won despite struggling with his control for six tiresome innings, and the Yankees stopped the streaking Kansas City Royals 7-5 Friday night.

	Jorge Posada watches his two-run homer in the second inning reach the upper deck in right field.

"No question, they know they're better than this," Yankees manager Joe Torre said after watching 356 pitches over 3 hours, 48 minutes.

"It's not that it was an ugly game because we weren't paying attention," he said. "It was an ugly game because these things happen from time to time. You hope you can just reach down and gut it out and be able to win."

That's what Clemens (1-1) did. He went to three-ball counts on 10 of 28 batters, including five of his first eight, throwing 104 pitches, 53 of them balls.

Still, he improved to 19-7 against Kansas City, allowing five runs, seven hits and four walks in six innings.

"I'm in very poor counts, and I have to get out of that," he said, saying his fastball was so strong that it spun out of the strike zone.

There were just two 1-2-3 innings -- Kansas City in the third and ninth. Clemens gave up a two-out, two-run single in the second to Sanchez, the Royals' No. 9 hitter, on an 0-2 splitter that stayed up. Clemens hanged his head as he walked off the mound following the inning.

He also threw a wild pitch in the fifth that allowed Sanchez to score from third. Clemens hit Mike Sweeney in the arm with a pitch and nearly hit Joe Randa in the head.

"When you're tying to come with the mid-thigh strike in, and you whiz by somebody's head, it can be dangerous," Clemens said.

Jorge Posada hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the second, and Ricky Ledee -- 2-for-2 with three walks -- put the Yankees ahead 3-2 with an RBI double in the third. Bernie Williams chased Jay Witasick (0-3) with a two-run double in the fourth -- a pop-up down the third-base line that third baseman Randa pulled off of, allowing it to drop between himself and shortstop Rey Sanchez.

"I heard Sanchez and I thought he said, 'I got it,' " Randa remembered. "What he said was I had room. That's why I peeled off. You're so close to the stands there, it's very hard to hear. But frankly, you'd rather have a collision with two guys than have what happened tonight."

Derek Jeter's two-run single off Brad Rigby put the Yankees up 7-3 in the fifth before Clemens allowed a two-run homer to Gregg Zaun in the sixth.

"It was a four-run swing on that play," Muser said of the infield mixup. "That scored two runs, and Rigby walked two guys that scored also. That was pretty much the game, right there."

Still, New York struggled to find a groove. While the Yankees lead the AL East at 6-3, "El Duque" (2-0) has been their only consistent starter. Clemens and David Cone have stumbled, and Andy Pettitte is on the disabled list with a strained back muscle.

Kansas City, which came in 8-3, was off to its best start in 22 years.

"They're a young club with a lot of energy," Torre said. "They're not going to quit."

And the Royals didn't.

Jeff Nelson followed Clemens and struck out four in 1 2/3 innings, including Randa to end the seventh with runners on second and third.

Mariano Rivera retired pinch-hitter Scott Pose to escape a second-and-third, two-out jam in the eighth and converted his 27th consecutive save chance, his fifth this season.

Witasick, who has lost four straight starts dating to last season, was chased after 3 2/3 innings -- needing 101 pitches to get those 11 outs. He allowed five runs and seven hits, including his fifth homer, the 22nd off the Royals in 12 games. Only the Cubs, with 23, have given up more.

Game notes
The Yankees have homered in eight of nine games this season. ... The Royals had been 12-for-12 on stolen-base attempts until Carlos Febles was thrown out at second by Posada in the first inning. ... Chuck Knoblauch, who popped to third with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, has no RBI in 41 plate appearances this season. He made his second error, fumbling an eighth-inning grounder. ... Rigby and teammate Jeff Suppan also have allowed five homers each. Despite giving up two runs in two innings, Rigby's ERA dropped from 18.69 to 15.63. ... Clemens tied Vic Willis for 39th on the career list with 248 wins. Bob Gibson is next at 251. ... Zaun left in the seventh with a sprained right elbow after throwing out Shane Spencer at second and hit Clay Bellinger with his follow-through. Zaun probably won't play this weekend.