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          Clement K's nine; Lee drives in three

          Jun 9, 2004

            CHICAGO (AP) -- The weather is heating up, and so is Derrek Lee.

            Lee went 3-for-4 with three RBI to spark an offensive outburst
            Tuesday night and Matt Clement kept up his mastery of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 7-3 Cubs victory.

            "It was a good game," said Lee, hitting .317 with 12 RBI over
            the last 10 games. "I got some hits, and Clement pitched a good
            game. We needed it."

            Every Cubs starter except Clement got at least one hit. Todd Hollandsworth had a pair of RBI, and Aramis Ramirez and Ramon Martinez drove in a run apiece. Clement (7-4) improved to 3-0 against the Cardinals this season, scattering three runs and five hits over eight innings while striking out nine.

            Scott Rolen was the only Cardinal with any luck against Clement,
            homering twice and drawing a walk. But the Cardinals, playing
            without NL batting champion Albert Pujols, managed only four other
            hits -- two in the final five innings.

            "Clement was just outstanding," Cardinals manager Tony La
            Russa said. "As well as he pitched, Scott gets a walk and a couple
            of home runs and he hits another ball hard. You have a day like
            that against anybody, it's outstanding. But as well as their pitcher
            was throwing, that means even more."

            It didn't mean a win, though.

            The Cubs have been scuffling for offense without Sammy Sosa,
            scoring four or fewer runs in six of their previous seven games. But
            Williams (3-6) was the perfect remedy. He has lost his last three
            decisions against Chicago, all at Wrigley Field, and the Friendly
            Confines weren't any more welcoming Tuesday. The Cubs roughed him
            up for seven runs -- six earned -- and 12 hits in five innings.

            Chicago had a runner in scoring position in all but one inning
            against Williams and touched him for six straight hits in the
            four-run third.

            "I think hitting is contagious," Lee said. "I think it's a
            confidence level. When your team is swinging the bat well, it kind
            of snowballs. And the same thing the other way."

            With Moises Alou at second, Ramirez at first and Hollandsworth
            at the plate with one out in the third, Williams spun around and
            threw to second. But his throw was a little wide, and backup
            shortstop Hector Luna couldn't grab it. The ball skipped into the
            outfield, allowing Alou to go to third and Ramirez to second.

            Hollandsworth followed with a double to the deep corner in
            right. Roger Cedeno looked as if he might grab it, but he stopped
            short of the brick wall and had to play it on the hop, giving Alou
            and Ramirez plenty of time to score.

            "You have two choices, diving for that ball or letting it drop
            and trying to keep the hitter to a double instead of a triple,"
            Cedeno said. "It was a catchable ball if you have a little more
            room."

            The Cubs weren't done yet, either. Lee doubled just inside the
            left-field line past a diving Rolen to drive in another run and
            make it 4-1.

            "I thought I had pretty good stuff, they just put the bat on
            good pitches," Williams said. "It was just one of those days.
            It's been worse for me."

            Chicago tacked on three more runs in the fifth, thanks to a rare
            blunder by Gold Glove center fielder Jim Edmonds. With runners at
            second and third, Lee hit a sharp liner to center. But when Edmonds
            put his glove up near his face to grab it, the ball bounced off the
            glove and over his shoulder, bouncing all the way back to the wall.

            Lee was credited with a two-run single and took third on the
            error. He scored on Martinez's sac fly one out later to give the
            Cubs a 7-2 lead.

            "It felt good out there. Nice and humid, got to get a good
            sweat going," said Lee, a California native who spent the first
            six years of his career in Florida. "It was fun out there
            tonight."

            Game notes
            Cedeno was ejected in the top of the eighth inning after
            complaining about the call on a swinging second strike. Plate
            umpire Rick Reed originally called it a ball, but Clement appealed
            to third-base umpire Alfonso Marquez, who said Cedeno had swung.
            Cedeno argued to no avail, and was so angry he smacked his bat on
            home plate, breaking it. Reed then tossed him. ... A power outage
            in the Wrigleyville neighborhood before the game knocked TV
            coverage out briefly, but the ballpark itself wasn't affected.