New Astros nemisis and Cy Young frontrunner Chris Carpenter won his 4th game of the season against the good guys, and earned his 20th victory of the year, as he defeated the Astros and starter Roger Clemens Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at MMPUS.
The Astros had their chances early, but failed to capitalize. Craig Biggio was thrown out at home in the first on a double by Lance Berkman. In the second, rookie Luke Scott , after he hit a run-scoring double, was caught in a rundown after Ausmus hit a comebacker.
“We had a chance to break through in the first couple of innings, then he (Carpenter) settled down,” Astros manager Phil Garner said. “You’ve got to get to him early, before he gets in a groove. That’s what happened to us. He got in a groove.”
Carpenter pitched his 7th complete game of the season and struck out 8 Astros while winning his 10th straight road game.
Clemens allowed four singles, two of them when Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina dribbled balls down the third-base line on full swings. The Rocket had two strikeouts and two walks, allowing 2 runs in 5 innings before he left with a tight hamstring.“I tried to stay in there. We wrapped it and tried to keep it from getting worse. I threw everything trying to stay in there,” he said. “I felt great when the game started, but once I got injured, I just wanted to eat up some innings.”
The Astros trailed 2-1 when Clemens left, but Berkman’s leadoff homer in the sixth took him off the hook.
The Astros said he is day-to-day, and Clemens said he hoped to make his next scheduled start Friday at Milwaukee.
The series finale is set for Sunday at 1:05 CST, Wandy Rodriguez (9-5, 5.94) vs. Jason Marquis (10-13, 4.42)