Sunday, August 25, 2002
Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 0
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX After leaving his father's bedside to pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Matt Clement wasn't about to come out of the game.
Clement persuaded Cubs manager Bruce Kimm to leave him in after a conference at the mound and got the last two outs for a three-hitter as Chicago beat the Diamondbacks 4-0 Saturday.
It was a nice win, and good for him, said Clement, whose father, Paul, had quintuple-bypass surgery Thursday. Unfortunately he couldn't watch it, but he got updates. It was a nice win to get, especially under the circumstances.
Mark Bellhorn hit his 21st home run as the Cubs handed the NL West leaders just their second loss in 14 games.
Clement was undecided about leaving his father in a Pittsburgh hospital room, but spent Friday afternoon there and caught a late flight for Phoenix. It didn't affect his stamina as he threw a season-high 126 pitches.
His stuff was great today, catcher Joe Girardi said. We were kind of joking, 'Maybe we should send him home for another four days and bring him back on Thursday.'
Clement (10-9) threw his second career shutout, both this year. Fourth in the NL this season in strikeouts, he fanned five and walked five.
Clement held the Diamondbacks hitless until rookie Alex Cintron slapped a hard grounder between third and shortstop with one out in the fifth inning.
There was just a tremendous amount of late movement on his pitches, Arizona manager Bob Brenly said. The problem he's had in the past was throwing strikes, and he did walk some guys, but that was about as good as I've seen him.
Kimm was undecided what to do after Clement walked Mark Grace with his 120th pitch.
When I looked at him, he had fire in his eyes, Kimm said. There was no way that he wanted to come out of that ballgame. At least 99 percent of the time you're ready to make a decision in that situation, but this was one of those times you let yourself be influenced.
Girardi, Alex Gonzalez and Chris Stynes also drove in runs for the Cubs, the only team to beat Arizona in the 14-game stretch. Arizona's previous loss was 3-2 to Chicago on Aug. 18.
Brian Anderson (6-9) worked 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. He was pulled after Bellhorn lined a drive into the seats in right field in the seventh and Corey Patterson followed with a single.
Anderson, rusty from a 10-day gap between starts, gave up a run in the second inning when Stynes doubled and scored on Girardi's single.
Chicago went up 3-0 on two sacrifice flies.
In the fourth, Fred McGriff doubled and scored on Gonzalez's fly ball to left field. Stynes drove in a run with a fly ball in the sixth after back-to-back singles by Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou.
In the meantime, Clement got ahead of most Arizona hitters from the start, retiring the first 11 batters before walking Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez in the fourth.
It was frustrating, no question, Grace said. His fastballs were sliders, and his sliders were fastballs. He was tough to pick up.
Notes: Sosa left the game in the eighth inning with spasms on the right side of his neck. ... Girardi saved a hit when he came from behind the plate to field a bunt and throw out Tony Womack leading off the fourth. ... Bellhorn has three more homers in a season than any switch-hitter in Cubs history. ... Clement pitched a shutout at Pittsburgh on May 28.
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