NL: Padres' Peavy bests idol

SAN DIEGO - Jake Peavy outdueled boyhood idol Roger Clemens, pitching a four-hitter for his third shutout this season as the Padres beat the Houston Astros 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Peavy also had a single off Clemens with one out in the eighth, one of five hits allowed by the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. Clemens pitched his first complete game since July 30, 2003, at Anaheim, and the 118th of his career.

Clemens retired 17 straight before Brian Giles homered with one out in the seventh for a 2-0 lead. Giles drove a high fastball into the rightfield seats on a 2-and-1 count, his 13th.

It was the eighth homer allowed this season by Clemens, who lost for the second time on the road. His ERA rose from 1.53 to 1.56 overall and from 0.37 to 0.56 on the road, both figures still best in the majors.

Ryan Klesko followed with a double into the left-centerfield gap and Mark Loretta walked before Clemens got the final two outs. After throwing 60 pitches through six innings, Clemens threw 20 in the seventh.

Clemens struck out seven and walked one. Peavy struck out six and walked two.

The West-leading Padres climbed within one game of .500. Houston went into the game with a half-game lead over Philadelphia and Florida in the wild-card race.

After Nolan Ryan retired, Clemens became Peavy's idol. The two met when they played together on a major-league all-star team that toured Japan in the offseason and were on the NL All-Star team together.

Dave Roberts tripled to right-centerfield on Clemens' second pitch of the game and scored on Giles' opposite-field single to left with one out. Clemens got out of the inning when Ryan Klesko hit into a double play.

PHILLIES 10, GIANTS 2: Rookie Ryan Howard returned to the starting lineup with a career-high four hits and three RBIs, and Vicente Padilla pitched eight strong innings for visiting Philadelphia.

Howard sat out the previous three games, all against left-handers, but the left-handed hitter made an immediate impact as the Phillies bounced back a night after being shut out to regain their half-game lead in the wild-card race.

Padilla looked dominant much of the night in winning his second straight game after a four-start winless stretch. He allowed three hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter as Philadelphia improved to 4-1 against the Giants this season.

BREWERS 11, MARLINS 2: Chris Capuano pitched eight strong innings and Carlos Lee homered for the first time in three weeks for host Milwaukee.

The Marlins were coming off a 9-4 homestand against the West that put them into the thick of the wild-card race, but they were stifled by Capuano, who scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out eight, including slugger Carlos Delgado four times.

Josh Beckett didn't make it out of the fourth, allowing seven runs, six earned, and eight hits in 31/3 innings. He pitched two innings in his previous start against the Brewers, an 8-6 loss July 5.

CUBS 10, BRAVES 1: Jerome Williams took a no-hit bid into the fifth and had the first multihit game of his career, and Jeromy Burnitz backed him with a grand slam to lead host Chicago.

Williams allowed one run and three hits in 72/3 innings, his longest outing this season. After walking Rafael Furcal leading off the game, he retired 11 in a row before Andruw Jones led off the fifth with his 40th homer.

Williams also was 2-for-4 with a single, double and a run.

METS 14, D'BACKS 1: Ramon Castro drove in a career-high five and Mike Jacobs homered for the second time in three games since he was brought up from the minors, leading visiting New York.

Former Devil Ray Victor Zambrano allowed six hits, including a run-scoring single by Jefferson High's Luis Gonzalez, in eight innings as the Mets won for the sixth time in eight games. New York, 23-35 on the road before winning Monday's series opener, is starting a stretch in which it plays 17 of 20 away from Shea Stadium.

REDS 6, NATIONALS 2: Luke Hudson allowed four hits in a career-best seven innings, and visiting Cincinnati batted around in a four-run third against a hurting Tony Armas. The Reds improved to 4-0 this season against the Nationals even though Nos. 3 and 4 hitters Ken Griffey and Adam Dunn were a combined 1-for-10 with five strikeouts.

PIRATES 10, CARDINALS 0: Nate McLouth, one of four rookies in Pittsburgh's increasingly young lineup, hit his first career homer, a two-run drive off the slumping Jason Marquis, and Ty Wigginton had a three-run triple in his first Pirates at-bat in 21/2 months. Rookies Chris Duffy and Ryan Doumit each reached base three times and scored a combined five runs.

DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 3: Jeff Weaver won his fifth straight decision and went 3-for-4 with a career-high three RBIs to lead host Los Angeles. Weaver pitched six or more innings for the 17th consecutive time, the longest such streak of his career.

[Last modified August 24, 2005, 01:27:02]