NEW YORK, 15 April 2004 — Roger Clemens tossed 6 2/3 solid innings to win his second start in the National League as the Houston Astros beat the Cardinals 5-3 in St. Louis on Tuesday.

The six-time Cy Young Award winner while in the American League, Clemens (2-0) allowed just one run on two hits while striking out three and walking three to record his 312th career win, moving past Tom Seaver into 16th place on the career list.

Clemens ended a brief retirement to sign with the hometown Astros in the off-season and extended his scoreless streak at the start of his NL career to 13 2/3 innings before giving up his lone run.

Adam Everett, Lance Berkman and Richard Hidalgo all hit solo homers for the Astros, while Jeff Kent doubled in a pair of runs.

In other games, Miguel Cabrera hit a pair of homers and Brad Penny allowed just two hits over eight innings to lead the Florida Marlins past the Montreal Expos 5-0 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Penny struck out 10 batters and walked just one before Tommy Phelps finished the game.

In San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit his 661st career home run, moving him past his hero Willie Mays into third place on the all-time list, as the Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.

Marquis Grissom hit two home runs as the Giants won their third straight game. Dustin Hermanson (1-0) held the Brewers to one run on three hits over five-plus innings.

Adam Eaton pitched seven solid innings and the San Diego Padres scored six runs in the fourth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3.

Konerko Powers White Sox Over Royals

Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to put Chicago in the lead for good as the White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 12-5 in their home opener on Tuesday.

Juan Uribe also homered for the White Sox, as Chicago manager and former White Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen picked up a win in his first game.

The White Sox pounded out 14 hits off three Royals pitchers, with Konerko, Uribe, Jose Valentin, Carlos Lee and Miguel Olivo all contributing two hits.

Esteban Loaiza (2-0) allowed five runs on seven hits over six innings to earn the win, despite allowing four Kansas City home runs.

Mike Jackson tossed two scoreless innings of relief and Billy Koch one perfect inning to complete the eight-hitter.

Darrell May (0-2) was touched for seven runs on eight hits in five innings to take the loss, after he gave up Konerko’s homer to make it 7-4 to the home team.

In Anaheim, Vladimir Guerrero and Bengie Molina both homered to lead the Angels past the Seattle Mariners 7-5.

Darin Erstad had three hits and scored two runs for the winners. Scot Shields (2-0) got the victory while Troy Percival got the last three outs for his second save.

In Detroit, Josh Phelps drove in the winning run with a ninth inning single to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers. Terry Adams (1-0) picked up the win in relief while Justin Speier pitched the ninth for his first save.

Damian Miller had three hits, including a three-run homer, as the Oakland Athletics got past the Texas Rangers 10-9. Eric Byrnes also had three hits for the A’s, while Jermaine Dye added a home run and an RBI double.

Games between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Yankees in New York and the Baltimore Orioles and the Red Sox in Boston were both postponed due to rain.

No make-up date was announced for either contest.