NATIONAL LEAGUE No doubt with blowout: Prior, Cubs top Clemens

The Astros ace had not lost since he was with the Yankees last September.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Mark Prior, Todd Walker and the Chicago Cubs finally made Roger Clemens look his age.
Prior pitched five shutout innings in his third start since coming off the DL and Todd Walker homered twice, ending Clemens' unbeaten streak at 13 games with a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.
A highly anticipated pitching duel was surprisingly lopsided in favor of the Cubs' 23-year-old All-Star.
"Going against someone that's going into the Hall of Fame ... it was just nice to beat him," Prior said. "It's pretty special because he doesn't give up many runs."
Prior (1-1) allowed only five hits and struck out eight, denying his childhood idol a chance to become the first pitcher in the big leagues with 10 wins. The 41-year-old Clemens also could have become the first Astro to start the season 10-0 since Juan Agosto in 1988.
Clemens hadn't lost since Sept. 6, 2003 against Boston, when he was with the New York Yankees.
Strong offense
Walker went 4-for-5 with homers in the sixth and ninth and a triple in the third. He also scored four runs. The Cubs' second baseman is 14-for-29 in his last six games after going 0-for-13 in his previous four.
Aramis Ramirez and Moises Alou also homered, handing the Astros their third loss in four games.
Houston, the NL's top-hitting team, has failed to score more than five runs in a game since a 7-1 win over St. Louis on May 30. That's a stretch of 13 games.
The Astros' problems were compounded by the loss of shortstop Adam Everett, who left the game in the first inning after straining his left hamstring while running out an infield single.
"Offensively we stink right now," Houston catcher Brad Ausmus said. "We do need to expect more of our offense right now."
The Cubs showed no weariness following Sunday's 15-inning thriller against the Anaheim Angels, a 6-5 victory that took 5 hours, 8 minutes to complete.
Chicago was helped by Clemens (9-1) struggling throughout the night, giving up five runs on a season-high 10 hits. He had six strikeouts but didn't appear to have any zip on his normally fearsome fastball and slider.
"I was just battling all night," Clemens said. "You're going to have a tough outing like this once in a while."
In trouble
Clemens opened the fifth by allowing two singles and a walk, loading the bases with no outs. Ramirez then singled in Todd Walker and Derrek Lee followed with an RBI single to score Martinez and give Chicago a 4-0 lead.
Clemens worked his way out of that jam, but promptly gave up a homer to Walker in the sixth that gave the Cubs a 5-0 lead. He was replaced by reliever Kirk Bullinger to start the seventh.
Meanwhile, Prior bounced back nicely from a rough outing in his second start of the season, when he gave up five runs on five hits with five walks in 32/3 innings in a 12-4 loss to St. Louis.
He looked as sharp as ever in this one, his third start after missing the first two months of the season with Achilles' tendinitis.
Prior struck out four of the first five batters he faced and didn't allow a runner past first base until Jose Vizcaino's double in the fourth. He retired the side in order in the fifth.
After Lance Berkman doubled deep to center field in the sixth, Prior departed to a smattering of applause from a small contingent of rowdy Cubs fans. Jimmy Anderson replaced him and went the final four innings for his first save.