NL: Clemens muzzles Nationals

WASHINGTON - The Nationals traded for Preston Wilson. That hasn't quite worked. They juggled their lineup. Hasn't worked, either.

Manager Frank Robinson gathered his players after a loss and read them some unflattering words used by the media to describe the club's tailspin. That attempt at motivation flopped. So did reliever Joey Eischen's idea of handing out camouflage caps before Friday night's game.

Nothing seems to be able to snap the Nationals out of their slide right now, and facing Roger Clemens was probably the last thing they needed.

Clemens matched his season high with 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings, and Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane and Mike Lamb each drove in three to lead the Houston Astros past Washington 14-1, the Nationals' 12th loss in 16 games.

"You don't like to be embarrassed like that, no matter where you are, especially at home," Robinson said. "We've got to do something to get this ballclub back in the win column, No. 1, and in the winning mode. We're not in a winning mode right now."

Washington entered tied with Atlanta for first place in the East; the Braves played a late game at Arizona. The Nationals led by 51/2 on July 3, but their lead has vanished along with their offense.

"It's kind of embarrassing. We've been on the opposite end of the spectrum, where we can't lose a ballgame," outfielder Ryan Church said. "Now we can't win a ballgame."

Washington has scored 30 in its past 11 games, a 2.7 average. So it seemed almost unfair that it had to take on a seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

"Hopefully we stop this as soon as possible," said outfielder Jose Guillen, who had two of Washington's three hits off Clemens.

"I just hope we don't let any of these fans down."

CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1 (11): David Eckstein's 11th-inning squeeze bunt, his second winning squeeze this month, lifted host St. Louis.

Pinch-hitter John Mabry led off the 11th with a triple, the fifth of his career and first since Aug. 3, 2002, off Sergio Mitre. With one out, Eckstein dropped a perfect bunt in front of the plate on a 1-and-1 count as pinch-runner Hector Luna scored without a play.

Cardinals rookie John Rodriguez hit his second home run since being called up Monday. The Cubs tied it in the third on Jerry Hairston's leadoff double and groundouts by Todd Walker and Derrek Lee.

DODGERS 6, METS 5: Jeff Kent homered, doubled and singled, and visiting Los Angeles held off New York for its third straight victory.

Jayson Werth drove in two as the Dodgers built a 6-0 lead for Jeff Weaver, who helped himself with a run-scoring single and won for the second time in eight starts.

By winning three in a row for the first time since June 4-6, Los Angeles gave manager Jim Tracy his 400th career victory.

PHILLIES 8, PADRES 6 (11): Chase Utley hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 11th to lift host Philadelphia. Ryan Howard homered and drove in three for the Phillies, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

David Bell hit a run-scoring double and pinch-hitter Endy Chavez added a two-run single in the sixth as the Phillies took a 6-3 lead.

San Diego answered in the seventh. Blum hit his fifth homer, a shot off Rheal Cormier, and Ryan Klesko tied it at 6 with a two-out, two-run single off Ryan Madson.

REDS 11, BREWERS 6: Ken Griffey tied Mickey Mantle for 42nd on the career RBI list with 1,509, and Adam Dunn drove in three with two homers as host Cincinnati tied its season high with its third straight win. A blown transformer caused a power outage in the top of the seventh, leaving only security lights working at the ballpark. The game resumed after a 25-minute delay.

ROCKIES 5, PIRATES 3 (10): Todd Helton hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the 10th off Jose Mesa, and Colorado won for the third time in its past five road games. Pittsburgh tied it against All-Star closer Brian Fuentes in the ninth on Matt Lawton's single.

GIANTS 8, MARLINS 5: Pedro Feliz homered for the third straight game and drove in three, and Edgardo Alfonzo and Ray Durham had two RBIs each for host San Francisco.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, BRAVES 5 (10): Alex Cintron homered leading off the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Cintron hit the third pitch from reliever Jim Brower (3-3) into the right-field bullpen, giving the Diamondbacks the win after they had squandered a five-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings.

Lance Cormier (6-1), the Diamondbacks' fourth pitcher, walked two and struck out two in 1 2-3 innings for the win.

Luis Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored for the Diamondbacks, who snapped a two-game losing streak to move within 3 1/2 games of San Diego in the NL West.

[Last modified July 23, 2005, 01:32:02]