CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees had a chance to come off the disabled list and enter the record books in one night, but rain postponed his start against the Chicago White Sox. Clemens spent more than three weeks on the 15-day DL with a sore left hamstring and was officially activated while tonight's game was being delayed. He will start the first game of a doubleheader Saturday. The five-time Cy Young Award winner will be trying to set an American League record for consecutive victories when he finally takes the mound. He has won 17 straight decisions dating to last year. Clemens had hoped to start in a recently completed three-game series at Boston, where he spent the majority of his career. But Yankees manager Joe Torre elected to have Clemens rest a few more days. The 36-year-old has not pitched since April 27 when he left after just two innings due to tightness in his hamstring. Two days later, he was placed on the DL. Clemens yielded five runs in that outing and was in danger of having his record-tying streak snapped at 17 wins, but New York took him off the hook by rallying for a 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers. He shares the AL mark with Baltimore's Dave McNally and Cleveland's Johnny Allen. The major league record is 24, set by Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants from 1936-37. Clemens is approaching the one-year anniversary of his last loss, going 27 starts since a 7-3 defeat to Cleveland on May 29 while with Toronto. After being acquired from the Blue Jays in February for lefthanders David Wells and Graeme Lloyd and infielder Homer Bush, Clemens went 2-0 in five starts for the Yankees before his injury. But he has a 5.47 ERA and has given up five homers and 17 walks while striking out 23 in 26 1/3 innings. Last season, en route to a unanimous selection for a second straight Cy Young Award, he went 20-6 with a 2.65 ERA and 271 strikeouts. Clemens owns six ERA titles, seven All-Star selections and five 20-win seasons. He is 235-124 with 3,176 strikeouts in 455 career games. After losing two of three in Boston, the Yankees (22-17) fell out of first place in the AL East, one-half game behind the Red Sox. To make room for Clemens, New York optioned pitcher Todd Erdos to Triple-A Columbus of the International League. Erdos was recalled prior to Thursday's game at Boston but did not appear in a 3-1 victory.  