Roger Clemens arrived at Yankee Stadium a little too late to see the dustup.

Josh Phelps slid hard into Kenji Johjima, throwing an arm into the Seattle catcher while scoring the first run in New York’s 5–0 victory over the Mariners yesterday.

Jarrod Washburn hit Phelps in the back with the first pitch to him in the sixth inning, and umpires warned both dugouts for the second time in three days. Yankees reliever Scott Proctor followed with an inside pitch to Yuniesky Betancourt with none on and two outs in the seventh. Betancourt pointed his bat toward the mound, catcher Wil Nieves grabbed him, and the benches and bullpens emptied — but no punches were thrown. Proctor and Yankees manager Joe Torre were ejected.

Clemens announced his return during the seventh-inning stretch, speaking to fans from the owner’s box as a crowd of 52,553 at Yankee Stadium and hundreds of thousands watching on television looked on.

Phelps singled leading off the fifth and advanced when Washburn (2–3) walked Johnny Damon with two outs. Phelps, whose left arm hit Johjima’s left shoulder, said he was running hard on Derek Jeter’s single to beat a throw from center fielder Ichiro Suzuki and put the Yankees ahead.

“I was determined to do whatever I had to do to score that run,” Phelps said. “I had to be aggressive, and that’s what I did. I’m rounding third base and I know he can throw with the best in baseball. You don’t have time to think it over. I saw him squatting down like he was going to receive the throw. I’m not going to let him just tag me out.”

Phelps appeared to have a clear path to the plate without making contact with the catcher.

“I was kind of surprised because I had the plate open for Phelps to run right through it,” Johjima said through a translator. “Maybe he was a little excited because he had a base hit.”

Betancourt thought Proctor’s pitch to him was out of line. Proctor wouldn’t go into details when asked if he expected to be fined or suspended.

“What happens, happens,” he said.

Because he was ejected, Torre didn’t get to see how his players reacted when they learned — along with the fans — that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees.

“I missed the fun of the whole thing, didn’t get a chance to witness it,” Torre said.

Before Clemens’ announcement, Darrell Rasner pitched the way the Rocket hopes to.

Rasner (1–1) threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of his first 18 batters and 17 of 22 overall. He struck out four and walked two in 5.2 innings, combining with four relievers on a four-hitter in New York’s first shutout of the season.

***

DIAMONDBACKS 3, METS 1 The Arizona Diamondbacks have reclaimed Chase Field from the Mets.

Livan Hernandez gave up one run in seven innings and the Diamondbacks beat the Mets 3–1 Sunday to end a 13-game home losing streak to New York.

“That’s a scary streak,” said Arizona’s Bob Melvin, who had managed 11 of the losses. “You hate to see that. It’s nice to get that over with, no question.”

The Diamondbacks hadn’t beaten the Mets in Chase Field since May 11, 2004, when it was known as Bank One Ballpark. None of Arizona’s nine starters were with the club then.

The Mets won the first three games of the series but played short-handed yesterday. Carlos Beltran, a late scratch with sore legs, was not in the lineup, although he pinch hit in the ninth inning, fouling out to end the game. The Mets were also without Moises Alou (knee) and Paul Lo Duca, who rested after catching a night game.

“They took it to us for three days in a row,” said Eric Byrnes, who doubled and scored two runs. “I think we had to make a statement today. We weren’t to roll over for these guys. We kind of had to stand up for ourselves.”

Despite the loss, the Mets were upbeat as they left for San Francisco, where they’ll open a three-game series against Barry Bonds and the Giants on Monday night.

“Anytime you win a series you’re looking good,” David Wright said.