HOUSTON - Roger Clemens moved into second place on the career strikeouts list behind fellow Houston-area native Nolan Ryan and became the first six-game winner in the majors, leading the Astros over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Wednesday night.
Clemens struck out Raul Mondesi swinging in the fifth inning to pass Hall of Fame left-hander Steve Carlton with No. 4,137.
The Rocket finished with nine strikeouts to run his career total to 4,140.
The crowd of 35,883 at Minute Maid Park, the first nonsellout with Clemens on the mound, gave him a long standing ovation after he fired the 89 mph split-fingered pitch past Mondesi.
Clemens briefly acknowledged the cheers by tipping his cap to the fans.
Soon after, Clemens added No. 4,138 by getting Craig Wilson swinging at a similar pitch. He struck out two in the sixth before leaving.
Ryan has 5,714 strikeouts.
Clemens won his 316th career game, putting him two behind Phil Niekro for 14th place. He gave up two runs on five hits.
Jeff Kent, Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg drove in two each to lead the Astros to their 12th victory in 13 games against the Pirates.
Kip Wells lost his third straight start, allowing five runs on eight hits in five innings. The right-hander from Houston struggled against the league's top-hitting team.
ROCKIES 2, EXPOS 0: Former Devil Ray Joe Kennedy gave visiting Colorado's new four-man rotation a great start, allowing one hit over six scoreless innings.
With a major league-high 6.38 ERA going in, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle already had decided to go with four starters for the rest of the month.
Kennedy pitched on three days' rest, giving up just Juan Rivera's single in the second. He struck out six and walked two.
Mark Sweeney pinch-hit for Kennedy in the seventh with runners on first and second and doubled on a 3-and-2 pitch from Zach Day to drive in the game's only runs.
PADRES 2, BRAVES 0: David Wells turned in another dominating performance against Atlanta, pitching seven scoreless innings and even beating out a bunt single for visiting San Diego.
Wells has made three career starts against the Braves and won them all. His ERA is 0.82 with two earned runs in 22 innings.
The left-hander allowed five hits and stunned the Braves with a bunt in the seventh, beating it out for his eighth career hit.
MARLINS 2, DODGERS 0: Brad Penny pitched 72/3 shutout innings to become Florida's career leader with 43 wins as the host Marlins broke a four-game losing streak.
The Marlins blew leads of at least two runs in every game during their skid, and they again jumped ahead 2-0 in the first against Jeff Weaver.
This time Penny protected the lead, allowing four hits and one walk.
Armando Benitez, who blew a save for the first time this season in Tuesday's loss to Los Angeles, earned his 11th when Milton Bradley grounded into a double play to end the game.
D'BACKS 2, CUBS 0: Rookie Casey Daigle outpitched Kerry Wood for his first career victory for visiting Arizona.
Steve Finley continued to torment Chicago, hitting his sixth homer in nine days against the Cubs, driving in a run and making a clutch defensive play to end a rally in the eighth. Finley has 19 career home runs against the Cubs.
PHILLIES 5, CARDINALS 4: David Bell tied a career high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer, to lead host Philadelphia.
Kevin Millwood pitched seven innings and Marlon Byrd homered for Philadelphia. The Phillies, preseason favorites to win the East, haven't been at .500 since they were 1-1.
REDS 5, BREWERS 4 (10): Juan Castro hit a pinch homer in the 10th as host Cincinnati ended a five-game losing streak against Milwaukee. The Reds' Adam Dunn tied it at 4 with a homer in the eighth, his 10th of the season.
