NATIONAL LEAGUE Pirates spoil another win for Roger Clemens in ninth

Daryl Ward and Jason Bay hit ninth inning homers in the 6-4 victory.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Daryle Ward hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth, Jason Bay followed with a two-run shot and the Houston Astros' bullpen blew another win for Roger Clemens in a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Ward, who played with the Astros from 1998-2002, led off the ninth by sending Brad Lidge's 1-0 pitch deep into the right-field seats for a 4-3 lead.
Lidge (1-1) walked Matt Lawton on the next at-bat and struck out Tike Redman but gave up another homer to Bay.
Salomon Torres (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, and Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 10th save in as many chances. Mesa has saved every win by the Pirates this season.
The Pirates closed their three-game series against the Astros with two straight wins -- Pittsburgh has just four wins in the past 24 games in Houston.
The Astros head on a seven-game trip to NL East leaders Atlanta and Florida. The Astros have a road mark of 1-10, ahead of only Colorado (1-13) for worst in the majors.
Denied 330th career win
Clemens was denied in his fifth straight bid to win his 330th game, remaining tied with Steve Carlton for ninth place on the career. He allowed two runs and four hits with eight strikeouts and a season-high five walks.
The Rocket hasn't won since his season-debut against Cincinnati on April 8, mostly because of an offense that had scored only six runs in his last four starts.
For a rare treat, the Astros gave Clemens an early cushion against Pittsburgh.
Mike Lamb, who last week moved into the lineup for struggling rookie outfielder Luke Scott, tripled in two runs in the first to give Houston a 2-0 lead. Craig Biggio added a RBI single in the third.
But Pittsburgh rallied behind David Ross' RBI double in the fourth and Matt Lawton's run-scoring single in the seventh. Ross' sacrifice fly in the eighth tied the game at 3-all.
Notes
Astros 1B Jeff Bagwell was out of the lineup with a sore right shoulder. He was replaced in the lineup with Jose Vizcaino. ... Lamb had the fourth triple of his career. ... Pittsburgh has given up a first-inning run in the last six games. ... Houston has played its last 14 games against NL Central opponents. That streak ends at Atlanta on Thursday.