Roger Clemens won for the first time at Wrigley Field, keeping his perfect season intact by pitching the Houston Astros past the Chicago Cubs 5-1.
Clemens (8-0) allowed one run -- on Todd Hollandsworth's broken-bat single -- and five hits in seven innings Wednesday. The 41-year-old Rocket, making his second start at Wrigley, earned his 318th career victory, tying Phil Niekro for the 14th place on the all-time list. Clemens has won 12 straight regular-season decisions since Aug. 9.
"When you have an opportunity to pitch in this type of setting, regardless of how you feel, you want to make the appearance because people come from all over to watch you perform," Clemens said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"I enjoy hearing the fans around the stadium, the things they say," he said.
Adam Everett and Brad Ausmus had three hits each against Matt Clement (6-4), who allowed 11 hits in 6 2-3 innings. Chicago has lost seven of nine.
Reds 3, Marlins 1
PHOTO: AFP
In Miami, Sean Casey singled in the seventh to break up Dontrelle Willis' perfect-game bid, then hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning off Matt Perisho as Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of Florida.
Brian Reith (2-1), who worked a scoreless eighth, got his second win in as many days. Danny Graves worked a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 26th save.
Felipe Lopez singled off Ben Howard (0-1) before the homer by Casey, who is hitting .391.
Cardinals 5, Pirates 3
In Pittsburgh, Albert Pujols hit his major league-leading 17th home run and Tony Womack had four hits as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
Pujols' two-run shot in the first inning gave him a home run in four of his last five games and helped the Cardinals win for the sixth time in seven games -- including three straight.
He began the night tied with Arizona's Steve Finley for the big league lead.
Chris Carpenter (6-1) sent Pittsburgh to its fourth consecutive loss. Jason Isringhausen got three straight outs for his 10th save in 13 chances.
Jason Kendall extended his hitting streak to 19 games for Pittsburgh. Mike Johnston (0-2) took the loss.
Mets 5, Phillies 3, 10 innings
In Philadelphia, Todd Zeile hit a tying, three-run homer in the eighth inning and a two-run drive in the 10th to lead New York over Philadelphia for a three-game sweep.
A night after Zeile hit tying homer in the eighth and a go-ahead single in the 10th in New York's 4-1 win, he did in the Phillies again.
Zeile drove a 2-1 pitch from Roberto Hernandez (1-2) through a heavy rain and over the right-field wall. David Weathers (5-1) was the winner. Braden Looper got his 10th save.
Expos 8, Braves 4
In Atlanta, backup catcher Einar Diaz drove in his first three runs of the season as Montreal beat Atlanta to avoid a three-game sweep.
It was only the third win in 13 games for the Expos, who have the worst record in the majors (17-35). Orlando Cabrera, Tony Batista and Juan Rivera each had three of Montreal's season-high 17 hits.
The Braves, who fell back to .500, failed in their attempt to match their season high of three straight wins. The Expos had lost seven straight at Turner Field.
Expos starter Claudio Vargas (4-3) pitched six innings. Mike Hampton (1-6) was the losing pitcher.
Diamondbacks 8, Giants 6
In Phoenix, Randy Johnson won his fourth successive start, and Shea Hillenbrand homered and drove in three runs in Arizona's victory over San Francisco.
Robby Hammock also knocked in three runs with a pair of doubles for the Diamondbacks, who snapped the Giants' 10-game winning streak Tuesday.
Johnson (7-4), whose winning streak began with his perfect game May 18 in Atlanta, gave up Marquis Grissom's three-run homer. He also hit Barry Bonds in the left elbow with a pitch. Bonds was 1-for-4 with a single.
Jose Valverde got three outs for his fourth save.
Brett Tomko (1-4) allowed five runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Dodgers 5, Brewers 2
In Los Angeles, Paul Lo Duca homered and drove in three runs and Edwin Jackson pitched five strong innings as Los Angeles beat Milwaukee.
Jackson (1-0) was called up from the minor leagues earlier in the day. He allowed one run, three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Eric Gagne got four outs, extending his major league-record save streak to 76. He allowed an RBI single to pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick in the ninth.
Mark Kotsay hit Oakland's second straight game-ending home run Wednesday, a 10th-inning drive that gave the Athletics a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
A day after Bobby Kielty's 12th-inning homer beat the White Sox 6-4, Kotsay connected against Jon Adkins (2-2) for his first homer since last Sept. 19 against Colorado.
"It was a good time for a first one," Kotsay said. "It was worth the wait."
It was the first time Oakland got consecutive game-ending homers since Dwayne Murphy and Mike Heath did it on Aug. 14 and 15, 1981.
"I'm not that type of player who's flashy or does spectacular things, but over the course of 162 games you might say, `He helped the team,'" Kotsay said. "If you come here one night, you might think I'm the worst player in the big leagues. If you come here every night, you might think otherwise."
Oakland played without Gold Glove third baseman Eric Chavez, hit by a pitch from Damaso Marte on Tuesday and expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks with a broken bone in his right hand.
Scott Hatteberg's RBI single in the ninth tied the score Wednesday against former A's closer Billy Koch. Arthur Rhodes (2-3) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Rangers 5, Indians 3
In Cleveland, Gary Matthews Jr. homered off Rafael Betancourt (2-4) leading off the ninth inning and Hank Blalock connected with two outs as Texas completed a two-game sweep of Cleveland.
It was Matthews' first homer since Aug. 26 of last season for San Diego.
Carlos Almanzar (5-0) won despite giving up Casey Blake's tying single in the eighth. Francisco Cordero walked two in the ninth before getting his 18th save in 18 tries, a team record.
Yankees 6, Orioles 5
In New York, Gary Sheffield and Derek Jeter homered, and Ruben Sierra hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly to rally New York past Baltimore.
Baltimore burst ahead with a five-run first inning, knocking out Jose Contreras just two outs into the game. But the Yankees' bullpen, led by Tanyon Sturtze, held the Orioles scoreless the rest of the way.
Sheffield's three-run homer closed the early gap and Jeter's seventh homer pulled New York within a run. Jeter has driven in at least one run in a career-high nine straight games, but he also made a pair of errors at shortstop.
New York has won all five meetings with Baltimore this season and 44 of its last 61 against the Orioles. Overall, the American League East-leading Yankees have won eight of their last nine.
Bret Prinz (1-0), recalled from Triple-A Columbus before the game, pitched 1 2-3 perfect innings for his first win with the Yankees. Mariano Rivera got his 20th save in 21 chances.
Eric DuBose (4-4) allowed six runs and three hits in five-plus innings.
Blue Jays 5, Mariners 3
In Seattle, Josh Phelps hit his first career grand slam to lead Toronto over Seattle.
Phelps had one hit in his last 14 at-bats before he homered in the second inning off Joel Pineiro (1-7), who allowed a grand slam to Boston's David Ortiz in his previous start last Friday.
Ted Lilly (4-2) won his fourth straight decision, allowing two runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Angels 10, Red Sox 7
In Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero set a club record with nine RBIs, hitting two homers and going 4-for-4 to lead Anaheim over Boston.
It was the most RBIs in the majors since Boston's Bill Mueller had nine at Texas last July 29. Guerrero leads the AL with 49 RBIs this season.
Anaheim's David Eckstein went 5-for-5, scored four runs and drove in another. He extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games. It gave the Angels an 8-7 lead.
Guerrero hit a two-run homer off Pedro Martinez in the first inning, doubled home two more runs in the third, then hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth. His second homer was a three-run shot in the sixth.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB