Roger Clemens kept the Cubs in their deep sleep on Wednesday, showing the stuff that has made him one of the game’s greats.
Clemens (8-0) earned his 317th career victory with a 5-1 victory over the Cubs, who have lost seven of nine games.
“We ran into a good pitcher who’s 8-0,” losing pitcher Matt Clement said. “Nobody has beaten him. I don’t think there’s any frustration or anything to hang your head about. He threw the ball like he has been throwing it all year and he’s tough to beat right now.”
Clemens allowed one run on five hits through seven innings, winning for the first time at Wrigley Field in his second appearance. The Astros “had a guy on the mound who has a lot to do with silencing bats, deadening bats,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
The Cubs lost the first series of a 10-game homestand and are 1-4 against Houston this year. They fell 4 1/2 games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central Division and they’re only 14-11 at Wrigley Field.
The game was tied 1-1 in the fifth when Jeff Kent tripled into the right-field corner with two outs and Lance Berkman singled on a 1-0 pitch to drive in the go-ahead run. Baker elected to have Clement pitch to Berkman, who ranks fifth in the league in hitting, rather than walk him to face Mike Lamb.
“It’s easy to second-guess things,” Clement said. “I feel I let down Dusty because he gave me the go-ahead and gave me the trust to go with that at-bat, and I didn’t do the job.”
The game ended with Corey Patterson getting booed again after he stranded a runner on third.
