The Yankees, already dealing with a struggling moose, now face a grounded rocket.

Roger Clemens, after getting lit up by the Mariners for eight hits and five runs in just four innings on Monday, was off for an MRI examination on his right elbow – an injury that had put last night's start in doubt in the first place.

The Yanks probably wished they had never sent the 45-year-old Rocket out for his start in the first place. But it's not as if the alternative – the seemingly lost Mike Mussina – was an attractive option.

But the team did its due diligence: "we checked twice with him before the game," Manager Joe Torre said.

New York has plenty invested in Clemens' pitching arm, so there is much to be concerned about here. At the very least, he'll miss his next start, so ready or not to rejoin the rotation, Mussina will get another chance. He sure didn't look ready Monday, however, giving up seven hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings of relief behind Clemens.

Another concern for the Yanks: last night's loss dropped them seven back of the BoSox in the AL East. It's looking more likely that the Wild Card will be the way to go to continue their run of playoff appearances. Unfortunately, the loss to Seattle shaved the Yanks' Wild Card lead to a single game, and with two more to play against the Mariners, the team doesn't really have the luxury of worrying about anything but the here and now.

So the fact that Clemens felt "grabbing" in the fourth inning is going to have to take a backset for the time being.

Clemens first experienced inflammation in his elbow after beating the Red Sox Wednesday, and up until game time, it wasn't necessarily a given that he'd be taking the mound last night. To add to his problems, the Rocket has also been dealing with blisters on his right foot.

While the freak-of-nature that Clemens is realizes what normal people already know about the body breaking down in your mid-40s, let's check in on the rest of the baseball happenings for Monday…

• While Clemens was suffering, another veteran hurler was making a long-awaited comeback. Although he's a veritable babe-in-the-woods at 10 years Clemens' junior, Pedro Martinez has been around long enough to qualify for veteran status. Uh, yeah…I guess three Cy Young Awards will do that. At any rate, the big story in the NL on this night was that Pedro returned to the mound 11 months after shoulder surgery, and he won his debut – limiting the Reds to five hits and three runs (two earned) over five innings. He struck out four, including the 3,000th K of his career, the 15th pitcher in history to achieve that feat. Not bad for a kid. Now, Pedro was hardly blowing people away. He spent much of the night throwing in the low-80s on the radar gun, but did get his fastball up to 89 mph at one point. That's obviously a concern going forward when assessing how much we can expect from him from a fantasy standpoint. If you're desperate for starting pitching, roll the dice and activate him for his next start; otherwise, let this play out for another start or two.

AL Quick Hits: Even if Erik Bedard were available for duty – and there's still concern that he may not pitch again this season – do you really want an Oriole starter active right now? This team is in free fall mode, having lost 12 of 13 and being outscored by a ridiculous 128-56 count during this stretch….As we discussed in Monday's Dose, many are worried about Dice-K hitting the wall. If you watched him almost blow a 10-1 lead last night, you know what I'm talking about…Reports suggest Brandon League's velocity – which inexplicably disappeared this spring – is coming back. Watch how he does this month; he could be a 2008 sleeper…Hank Blalock will keep DHing for the time being; he says he's about a week to 10 days away from returning to third base…Akinori Otsuka starting throwing from flat ground as we discussed Monday. I can't wrap my head around why he's so hell bent to pitch again this year. Something tells me this well end badly…What's the deal with this Rocco Baldelli situation? It's obviously not his hamstring strain that's keeping him out, but the Rays won't say what kind of tests he had last week or even if there is something wrong with him. It makes me wonder what's really going on. Is there a curse on Rays outfielders (Josh Hamilton, Elijah Dukes, Delmon Young, Ben Grieve are just a few that come to mind who either had personal problems or got into hot water with the team)?

NL Quick Hits: Chin-Hui Tsao is still unable to throw, making it likely that he's done for the year. Oh, what could have been with this kid. Once upon a time, he was filthy…If Nomar Garciaparra can run without pain today, the Dodgers will activate him. Remember a time when people would have cared about this news?...Promotions continue this week and the 'Stros plan to bring six up Tuesday, including Jason Lane. Lane hit .319 for Triple-A Round Rock this season, but he's struggled badly with the big club whenever called upon. Don't expect much from this guy, just two years removed from a 26-homer season in the bigs…Bobby Livington, who showed some promise for the Reds this year, will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He should be able to begin throwing again in January, so will hopefully be ready to compete for a job in spring training…Angel Pagan is getting closer to returning to the Cubs. Out since early last month because of colitis, he's now off to the team's off-season facility to start working out….The Padres are thinking about bringing Jake Peavy back early so he can face the D-Backs on three days' rest Wednesday. If he can handle the short rest, it's a great idea – the dude has dominated the Snakes this year, going 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA and 45 Ks in 26 1/3 innings.

Rob Blackstien runs www.RotoRob.com, a site featuring daily fantasy sports analysis. In addition to his baseball work on the site, he contributes to Rotoworld’s basketball coverage. Rob also writes for CREATiVESPORTS.com, BaseballNotebook.com and has contributed to Rotoman’s Fantasy Baseball Guide and Fantasy Football Guide.

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