Clement shines for Cubs

Matt Clement took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 13, leading the Cubs past the New York Mets, 4-1, yesterday as host Chicago earned its sixth straight win.

Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer, and Michael Barrett and Corey Patterson each drove in a run to back Clement. The Cubs completed a three-game sweep and have outscored their opponents, 39-5, during their six-game winning streak.

Clement (3-1) gave up two hits in eight innings, including a solo homer to Karim Garcia with one out in the seventh that broke up the no-hit bid.

Cubs manager Dusty Baker went to the mound after Clement retired his first batter in the eighth. Baker had Kyle Farnsworth warming up, but Clement had only thrown 109 pitches and persuaded the manager to leave him in.

Two batters later, Clement fanned Kaz Matsui for his 13th strikeout. It's the ninth time in his career he's reached double digits in strikeouts. Joe Borowski pitched the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.

The Mets have lost eight of 10 and look like a team from the dead-ball era. They've scored just 13 runs in their last nine games, and managed six hits in their last two against the Cubs.

Dodgers 9, Giants 0 -- Kazuhisa Ishii pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout and Milton Bradley homered twice as Los Angeles hammered San Francisco at Chavez Ravine. The win was the Dodgers' eighth in 11 games, including five of six meetings with the rival Giants. San Francisco has lost nine of 11 overall. The three-game series set a Dodger Stadium record for attendance. The crowd of 54,235 for the final game ran the total for the three games to 163,653.

Braves 7, Marlins 2 -- Atlanta scored twice on Dontrelle Willis, and did even better than that against Florida's bullpen. Mark DeRosa homered for the first earned run off Willis this season, and J.D. Drew's bases-loaded triple off Tommy Phelps broke a tie in the seventh inning to help the Braves take two of three from the World Series champs for the second weekend in a row.

Expos 2, Phillies 0 -- Zach Day and Rocky Biddle combined for the shutout and Matt Cepicky hit a two-run double, giving Montreal to its first win at Olympic Stadium.

Diamondbacks 12, Padres 7 -- Richie Sexson homered twice and drove in three runs, helping Arizona throttle San Diego in Phoenix.

Rockies 4, Astros 1 -- Vinny Castilla set a franchise record with an RBI in his 10th straight game and Joe Kennedy pitched into the seventh inning to remain unbeaten as host Colorado avoided a three-game sweep.

Cardinals 5, Brewers 2 -- Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds hit consecutive home runs in the first inning and Jeff Suppan pitched St. Louis past Milwaukee at Miller Park.

Pirates 6, Reds 0 -- Pittsburgh's Oliver Perez shrugged off a nearly three-hour rain delay to shut out visiting Cincinnati on six hits in his first major league complete game.