Clement Pitching In for the Cubs

Another strong outing by Matt Clement helped him beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time in his career.

Clement worked eight strong innings and Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run home run, giving the Chicago Cubs a 4-2 victory Saturday night at St. Louis.

“I didn’t do anything special, I just stayed aggressive,” Clement said. “The whole lineup is such a dangerous lineup, there’s no relaxing at any time.”

The Cubs won for only the sixth time in their last 32 games at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium over five seasons. A sellout of 49,505, the largest crowd of the season, attended a game that was played in constant rain and temperatures in the high 40s.

“It was a tough day to play,” Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa said. “The pitchers probably had the best of it.”

Clement (4-1) gave up five hits and one run with five strikeouts and one walk, winning his fourth consecutive start since losing his first outing of the season.

During his winning streak, he has yielded only three earned runs and 13 hits in 28 1/3 innings -- an earned-run average of 0.95 -- with 31 strikeouts.

He defeated the Cardinals for the first time in his career after eight starts against them in which he had an 0-3 record and a 5.27 ERA.

Ramirez was two for 17 on the first six games of the Cubs’ eight-game trip before hitting his seventh homer against Jeff Suppan (2-3) in the fourth.

Sammy Sosa walked with one out and Moises Alou singled before Ramirez hit the first pitch of the at-bat, a hanging slider, into the bullpen in left-center, a drive estimated at 410 feet.

Suppan said it was “basically the right pitch, wrong location.”

Houston 10, Cincinnati 4 -- Wade Miller regained his control after a wild start and got lots of offensive help from the Astros at home. He was trailing, 3-2, in the third inning after giving up two hits and four walks.

“In the second and third innings I felt a little off,” he said. “I just wasn’t letting the ball go. I was holding back for some reason.

“But in the fourth, the pitcher [Aaron Harang] came up and I tried to let it go just to see how it would feel. Mentally I had been holding back, not on purpose, but after I let go against the pitcher and got that strikeout, I felt better.”

Miller (3-2) retired 11 of the last 13 hitters he faced in improving to 7-1 against the Reds, who have lost four in a row.

Colorado 3-7, Atlanta 2-11 -- Johnny Estrada and Jesse Garcia each hit two-run singles in a six-run eighth inning, and the Braves split a doubleheader at Colorado.

Trailing, 7-5, the Braves loaded the bases and Estrada hit a two-run single with two out against Vladimir Nunez. Adam LaRoche walked to load the bases again, and Garcia hit a two-run single to give Atlanta a 9-7 lead.

C.J. Nitkowski (1-0) retired the only batter he faced in the seventh.

Nunez (3-1) got the victory in the first game as the Rockies won on Mark Sweeney’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning but took the loss in the nightcap.

Colorado’s Scott Elarton went six innings and gave up six hits and five runs but didn’t factor in the decision. He’s winless in his last five starts.

Pittsburgh 8, Milwaukee 7 -- Craig Wilson hit an RBI double in the 10th inning to lead the Pirates at Milwaukee.

Jason Kendall led off with a single off Luis Vizcaino (0-1) and stole second and third to get into scoring position. With two out, Wilson lined a double to center to drive in Kendall for his third RBI of the game.

Jason Boyd (1-0) pitched the ninth for the win, and Jose Mesa pitched the 10th for his eighth save in as many chances.

Mesa moved to 20th on the career saves list with 257, passing former Dodger Todd Worrell.

San Diego 3, New York 1 -- Brian Giles hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to lead the surging Padres past the Mets at San Diego.

San Diego has won six straight and 10 of 12, including four consecutive come-from-behind wins.

New York played the game under protest after Padre reliever Akinori Otsuka threw one pitch in the eighth inning. The Mets contended that Otsuka, who has an unusual delivery, balks with each pitch.