NEW YORK (AP) – The Yankees are rolling, and the Royals are reeling.

Roger Clemens got his 305th win, and Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera homered as New York stretched its winning streak to seven by holding off Kansas City 8-7 Wednesday.

New York, which began the day a season-high 61/2 games ahead of second-place Boston in the AL East, completed a three-game sweep and improved to 10-0 at home against the AL Central this season.

Kansas City has lost six of eight. Its division lead was down to one game over Chicago and 11/2 games over Minnesota at the start of the day.

Clemens (12-7), who has struggled in day games this year, fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, but New York quickly overcame that against Jimmy Gobble (2-2), making his fourth major league start. Derek Jeter had a go-ahead, two-run single during a nine-pitch at-bat in the four-run second after falling behind 0-2 in the count.

Kansas City scored four runs in the ninth, getting seven straight hits, but fell short partly because of a baserunning blunder.

After Angel Berroa’s RBI single in the ninth off Sterling Hitchcock, Mariano Rivera relieved and eventually got two outs for his 27th save in 33 chances.

Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran hit RBI singles, and Raul Ibanez singled sharply to right off Mariano Rivera. Sweeney held up at third, but Beltran took a wide turn at second and was thrown out by Juan Rivera. Joe Randa singled for Kansas City’s seventh straight hit that pulled Kansas City within a run before Desi Relaford struck out on three pitches.

Clemens allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings, tying Eddie Plank for 18th place on the career victory list. The 41-year-old right-hander, 8-2 in night games but just 4-5 in the afternoon, left with two on in the seventh and was replaced by 46-year-old left-hander Jesse Orosco, who struck out Brent Mayne. Orosco walked Aaron Guile, then Antonio Osuna came in and struck out Berroa.

Gobble started his big league career with a pair of wins over Tampa Bay but has since lost to Minnesota and New York.

He gave up eight runs and 11 hits in 4 1-3 innings, his ERA rising from 3.52 to 6.41.

After Joe Randa’s sacrifice fly and Ken Harvey’s RBI single put the Royals ahead in the second, the Yankees quickly ate up Gobble.

Aaron Boone, in a 7-for-43 slump, opened the bottom half with a double, Johnson singled and Juan Rivera doubled for the Yankees’ first run. Rivera, recalled after Tuesday night’s game, struggled with the Yankees earlier this season, hitting .237, but manager Joe Torre said Wednesday he hoped the 25-year-old outfielder would relax with the knowledge he will be with the team for the rest of the season.

After Jeter’s hit to shallow left, Bernie Williams singled for a 4-2 lead.

John Flaherty hit an RBI double in the third, and Johnson homered for a 7-2 advantage in the fifth. One out later, Rivera hit his second homer of the season, finishing Gobble.

Relaford hit a run-scoring grounder in the seventh.

Notes: During the game, New York announced Jose Contreras will return from the disabled list and start Sunday against Baltimore. RHP Jeff Weaver could be optioned to Triple-A Columbus to make space on the roster. … Berroa made a great play on a third-inning grounder deep into the shortstop hole, throwing out Rivera at first from three steps into the outfield. Guile made a nice diving catch on a sinking ball by Williams to end the seventh and save a run. … Clemens struck out five and took over the AL lead with 164 strikeouts. With 4,073, he is 63 behind Steve Carlton, second on the career list. Clemens, who says he will retire after this year, probably has seven starts left during the regular season. … The Yankees, who are off Thursday, gave off-days to 1B Jason Giambi, bothered by a sore shoulder, and C Jorge Posada.

AP-ES-08-20-03 1634EDT