The Rocket won his sixth straight game of the season as the Astros beat the Pirates 6-2 in the second game of their three game series. Jeff Kent was the hitting star with a dinger and a triple, while Morgan Ensberg climbed out of Jimy Williams’ doghouse long enough to pick up a couple of hits and RBI’s.
Clemens struggled a bit in this outing (, but he is so ornery that it doesn’t seem to matter much. Clemens moved into second place on the career strikeouts list behind fellow Houston area native Nolan Ryan when he struck out Raul Mondesi swinging in the fifth inning to pass Steve Carlton with No. 4,137 career K’s. Clemens finished the night with nine strikeouts to run his career total to 4,140.
The Stros go for the sweep on a Thursday afternoon businessman’s special before leaving town for a quick three game roadie in Atlanta over the weekend.
Wade Miller will start for the Astros.