NL: Clemens climbs wins list as Astros stay in hunt
By Associated Press
Published September 15, 2004
ST. LOUIS - Roger Clemens shut down the Cardinals' potent offense, doing his part to keep the Astros in the wild-card race.
Clemens won his 327th game with seven strong innings and the Astros held on for a 7-5 victory Tuesday night.
The Cardinals' 3-4-5-6 hitters were a combined 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Clemens.
"He was fantastic," manager Phil Garner said. "He did a super job."
Lance Berkman matched a career high with four hits, including a three-run double that highlighted a five-run fourth. The Astros have won 15 of 18 and remained a game behind San Francisco and a half-game back of the Cubs for the wild card.
Tony Womack had three hits and a steal and scored on a first-inning double play for St. Louis, which has lost five of seven.
"We made a good run at it," manager Tony La Russa said. "I know they were worried at the end and we were excited, but it's tough getting down to a great pitcher."
Clemens passed Eddie Plank and tied John Clarkson (1882-94) for 10th on the wins list while improving to 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in four starts against the Cardinals. He's tied with teammate Roy Oswalt and the Marlins' Carl Pavano for the league lead with 17 wins and is tied for the major-league lead in winning percentage with the A's Mark Mulder, also 17-4.
"The hitters gave me a nice cushion and it was my job to go out there and keep the lead and throw strikes," said Clemens, who matched his win total from last season with the Yankees. "That's all I was trying to do.
"I was just real fortunate we scored just enough runs, as it turns out."
MARLINS 8, EXPOS 6: Maybe Florida should make Chicago its permanent home.
Bringing an appropriate end to their odd stay, Jeff Conine drove in the go-ahead run with a walk and the Marlins swept the miniseries at U.S. Cellular Field.
With Hurricane Ivan bearing down on Florida, Major League Baseball decided last week to move the first two games of the Marlins' five-game series with Montreal from Miami to Chicago. The Marlins were in Chicago for a weekend series against the Cubs, and the White Sox, the normal residents at U.S. Cellular Field, were out of town.
The Marlins won both games, making them winners of seven of their past 10 in Chicago.
CUBS 3, PIRATES 2 (12): Corey Patterson hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth and a winning shot in the 12th, lifting host Chicago.
After retiring Michael Barrett and Jose Macias in the 12th, Pittsburgh reliever Brian Meadows gave up Patterson's homer to center. It was Patterson's 23rd of the season.
With the Cubs trailing 2-0 in the eighth, Pirates reliever Salomon Torres hit Barrett with a pitch leading off. One out later, Patterson homered to left off Torres to tie it.
DODGERS 6, PADRES 3: Jose Lima pitched into the seventh and Jayson Werth homered for the third game in a row for host Los Angeles. The Dodgers maintained their 41/2-game West lead over San Francisco. San Diego fell 71/2 behind Los Angeles in the division and three back of the Giants in the wild-card race.
REDS 7, PHILLIES 6: Felipe Lopez hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the sixth and host Cincinnati held on. The Reds have won the first two of the three-game set for their first series win since taking two of three from St. Louis Aug. 24-26, four losses and one split ago.
D'BACKS 4, ROCKIES 3 (13): Shea Hillenbrand's one-out single to center drove in the winner for host Arizona. Vinny Castilla drove in two for Colorado, including a single in the eighth that tied it at 3.
METS 7, BRAVES 0: Kris Benson pitched a four-hitter for his second career shutout and first complete game in more than four years, leading host New York to its fourth win in 24 games.
