Kiwideus
05-01-2004, 12:59 AM
Roger Clemens is now 5-0 in April :thumbsup:
HOUSTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens recovered from a rough start to move past Gaylord Perry for 15th place on the career wins list and Lance Berkman homered and drove in two runs to lead the Houston Astros past the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 Friday night.
Clemens won the 315th game of his career -- his ninth victory in a row. Next up for The Rocket is Phil Niekro with 318.
Clemens (5-0) also became the first Astros' pitcher to win five games in April, making the first start of his 21-year career against Cincinnati a memorable one.
But it looked like The Rocket might be grounded before he could get started.
Clemens walked four of the first seven batters he faced, loading the bases and eventually walking in D'Angelo Jimenez for the Reds' first run of the game.
But Clemens worked himself out of the jam by striking out Jacob Cruz, leaving three men on base.
From there, Clemens only got stronger.
He retired the Reds in order for two innings before giving up his first hit of the game to Adam Dunn in the fourth. His final pitch of the night -- a 93 mph fastball that had Cruz swinging wildly at the air -- brought the sellout crowd of 41,430 to its feet.
That strikeout was the 4,131th of Clemens' career, meaning he needs only five more to pass Steve Carlton for second place.
In six innings, Clemens allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts.
The Rocket needed a lift from his offense to get this win, though.
Berkman's RBI single in the fourth tied it at 1, and Morgan Ensberg later drove Berkman in with a single for the Astros' go-ahead run. Richard Hidalgo almost scored on the hit, too, but was called out on a close play at home plate.
Berkman's towering shot to left field put the Astros up 3-1 and all but sealed the win.
But the Reds, who blew a nine-run lead in a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday, completely fell apart in the seventh inning.
The top of Houston's lineup -- Craig Biggio, Adam Everett and Jeff Bagwell -- each had hits and scored on struggling reliever Ryan Wagner before he was replaced by Jimmy Haynes.
Jose Acevedo (2-2) gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings. That was a slight improvement from the right-hander's miserable performance in a 6-0 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, when he gave up five runs and three homers.< ^Notes: The Astros' had their third sellout of the season Friday night. Two of the sellouts came when Clemens was on the mound, and the other was on opening night. ... Dunn's former football teammate and fellow quarterback at the University of Texas, Major Applewhite, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The two clowned around before the game, and the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Dunn took pictures with Applewhite wearing the much-too-small jersey of closer Danny Graves. ... Houston second baseman Jeff Kent broke a hitless skid of 10 at-bats with a shot down the left-field line in the fourth.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens recovered from a rough start to move past Gaylord Perry for 15th place on the career wins list and Lance Berkman homered and drove in two runs to lead the Houston Astros past the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 Friday night.
Clemens won the 315th game of his career -- his ninth victory in a row. Next up for The Rocket is Phil Niekro with 318.
Clemens (5-0) also became the first Astros' pitcher to win five games in April, making the first start of his 21-year career against Cincinnati a memorable one.
But it looked like The Rocket might be grounded before he could get started.
Clemens walked four of the first seven batters he faced, loading the bases and eventually walking in D'Angelo Jimenez for the Reds' first run of the game.
But Clemens worked himself out of the jam by striking out Jacob Cruz, leaving three men on base.
From there, Clemens only got stronger.
He retired the Reds in order for two innings before giving up his first hit of the game to Adam Dunn in the fourth. His final pitch of the night -- a 93 mph fastball that had Cruz swinging wildly at the air -- brought the sellout crowd of 41,430 to its feet.
That strikeout was the 4,131th of Clemens' career, meaning he needs only five more to pass Steve Carlton for second place.
In six innings, Clemens allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts.
The Rocket needed a lift from his offense to get this win, though.
Berkman's RBI single in the fourth tied it at 1, and Morgan Ensberg later drove Berkman in with a single for the Astros' go-ahead run. Richard Hidalgo almost scored on the hit, too, but was called out on a close play at home plate.
Berkman's towering shot to left field put the Astros up 3-1 and all but sealed the win.
But the Reds, who blew a nine-run lead in a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday, completely fell apart in the seventh inning.
The top of Houston's lineup -- Craig Biggio, Adam Everett and Jeff Bagwell -- each had hits and scored on struggling reliever Ryan Wagner before he was replaced by Jimmy Haynes.
Jose Acevedo (2-2) gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings. That was a slight improvement from the right-hander's miserable performance in a 6-0 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, when he gave up five runs and three homers.< ^Notes: The Astros' had their third sellout of the season Friday night. Two of the sellouts came when Clemens was on the mound, and the other was on opening night. ... Dunn's former football teammate and fellow quarterback at the University of Texas, Major Applewhite, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The two clowned around before the game, and the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Dunn took pictures with Applewhite wearing the much-too-small jersey of closer Danny Graves. ... Houston second baseman Jeff Kent broke a hitless skid of 10 at-bats with a shot down the left-field line in the fourth.