Clemens gets win 338; Rangers lose to Tampa

Roger Clemens threw seven innings of four-hit ball to earn his 338th victory one day before his 43rd birthday, and the Houston Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 Tuesday night.

The Texas Rangers weren’t as fortunate, falling 10-8 at home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

• Astros 3, D’Backs 1: Adam Everett drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double and Mike Lamb homered for the Astros, who won for the 14th time in 16 games and extended their lead in the NL wild-card race to two games over the fading Washington Nationals.

Chad Tracy hit his 15th homer for the Diamondbacks, who lost for the second time in six games and fell a game behind the San Diego Padres in the NL West.

Clemens (10-4) was dominant after allowing Tracy’s home run two batters into the game. He has won at least 10 games in 19 of his 22 seasons.

Clemens pitched with tightness in his back in his last start, a condition that returned on the flight to Arizona.

“The plane ride wasn't great. Thank goodness I'm standing up out there,” Clemens said. “As long as I was moving around it felt fine."

Clemens retired 19 of his final 22 batters, striking out the side in the fourth. The right-hander walked one, struck out eight and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.45.

“Just another seven innings and one run," Astros manager Phil Garner said. “You guys keep putting that in every story and don’t have to rewrite it. All you have to do is change the date. It’s absolutely phenomenal.”

The Diamondbacks’ other two hits against Clemens were a two-out single by Tony Clark in the first and a one-out double by Tracy in the sixth.

Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances.

Arizona starter Claudio Vargas (4-6) was nearly as sharp, scattering three hits over the firth four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.

Brad Ausmus led off with a single past diving third baseman Troy Glaus. Ausmus went to second on a sacrifice by Clemens, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Craig Biggio’s looping single to center to tie the game at 1-all.

Houston took the lead in the sixth when Lamb drew a one-out walk and scored one batter later on Everett’s double into the left-field corner.

Lamb’s seventh homer made it 3-1 in the eighth.

Vargas allowed six hits, walked three and struck out a career-high nine over 7 1/3 innings.

• Devil Rays 10, Rangers 8: In Arlington, Carl Crawford had two triples, two doubles and three RBIs, and Tampa Bay defeated the Texas Rangers.

Crawford matched a team record for the most extra-base hits in a game, previously set by Jose Cruz Jr. and Randy Winn. Alex Gonzalez homered and Jorge Cantu drove in three runs for the Devil Rays, who are 13-5 since the All-Star break.

Hank Blalock and Gary Matthews Jr. connected for the Rangers, who began a six-game homestand after a 5-2 road trip. Matthews had three hits, but Texas lost its sixth straight at home.

Devil Rays starter Seth McClung (2-6) gave up seven runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings. Danys Baez got three outs for his 21st save in 28 chances.

Tampa Bay grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first against Chris Young (8-7) on consecutive RBI doubles by Crawford and Cantu, and a run-scoring single from Aubrey Huff.

Gonzalez’s solo homer in the second — his sixth — stretched the Devil Rays’ advantage to 4-0.

Texas rallied with a two-run second on Matthews’ RBI single and Rod Barajas’ run-scoring double.

The Rangers took a 5-4 lead in the third, capitalizing on two walks by McClung followed by Blalock’s three-run shot, his 20th.

Tampa Bay went ahead 8-5 with a four-run fourth on Gonzalez’s RBI double, Crawford’s two-run triple and Cantu’s sacrifice fly.

Young, who gave up seven runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, hasn’t won since June 30.

The Devil Rays kept up the pressure against reliever James Baldwin on Cantu’s RBI double in the sixth to make it 9-5.

In the sixth, Alfonso Soriano’s RBI double off McClung and Matthews’ two-run homer off Trever Miller — Matthews’ 12th — got the Rangers to 9-8.

Tampa Bay extended its lead to 10-8 in the ninth on Toby Hall’s RBI single.

Notes: A small fire on the roof of Ameriquest Field during the game _ started by embers from a fireworks display _ resulted in a visit from the local fire department and evacuation of a youth sports park inside the stadium. There were no injuries, according to Rangers media relations director Gregg Elkin. ...Blalock has 16 homers at home. ... Crawford had his fifth career two-triple game. ... Young has lasted four innings or less in five of his last six starts. ... McClung's last start against Texas was on May 22, 2003, his final appearance before Tommy John surgery. McClung pitched only 3 1-3 innings and got a no-decision in a 10-8 Rangers victory. ... Travis Lee of the Devil Rays left in the ninth after being hit in the right foot by a pitch from Kameron Loe. Lee is day-to-day.