PHILADELPHIA - Jim Thome's shot sailed high over the left-center field wall, sending the crowd into a frenzy as he pumped his fist to celebrate his apparent 400th career home run.

It was the most memorable moment in the brief history of Philadelphia's new ballpark - and there was a chance it wouldn't count.

Rain nearly wiped out Thome's first-inning homer. A rain delay in the third inning left the lefty slugger staring at the Doppler radar inside the clubhouse wondering if the rain would pass and the homer would stand.

"In my mind, I was trying to think positive that the rain was going to get out of there," he said.

Well, the rain never really did go away. The game was stopped three times, with delays totaling 3 hours, 54 minutes, and ended at 2:06 this morning.

Still, the Phillies won 10-7 in eight innings and Thome officially became the 37th player to hit 400 homers.

He dreaded having to possibly replicate the moment.

"You don't ever imagine ever doing anything like this," he said. "It's special."

The Reds gave Ken Griffey Jr. the game off. They decided to wait at least another day to try for his 500th homer.

The sellout crowd of 44,710, the largest ever at Philadelphia's new ballpark, erupted when Thome homered. There couldn't have been any other reaction by the fans who have embraced Thome like few others.

"I think it was great how the fans have treated me here," Thome said. "To give that back to them is a special, special thing for sure."

Then one fan gave back to Thome. Todd Stark of Glenmont, N.Y. ended up with Thome's homer. The two met after the game and Stark received an autographed hat, bat and jersey from Thome.

"It's Christmas," Thome said, laughing.

Roger Clemens stared blankly ahead as Todd Walker trotted around the bases after sending one of his fastballs deep into the right-field seats.

The worst performance of Clemens' season was coming to an ugly end. The Rocket simply ran out of fuel.

Mark Prior pitched five shutout innings in his third start since coming off the DL and Walker homered twice, ending Clemens' unbeaten streak at 13 games with a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros.

"I was just battling all night," Clemens said. "You're going to have a tough outing like this once in a while. The guys bailed me out of one of these earlier (in the season)."

A highly anticipated duel between one of the game's most enduring stars and one of its newest was surprisingly lopsided in favor of the Cubs' 23-year-old All-Star.

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 (9-1) 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, back when he was with the New York Yankees in what appeared to be the final season of his career.

At Cleveland, Jake Westbrook pitched a four-hitter for his first major league shutout and John McDonald got a career-high four hits in a rare start.

Westbrook (6-2) struck out four and walked two in his third career complete game. It was his 43rd start in the majors.

Eric DuBose (4-5) was charged with eight runs in 2

innings. He gave up six hits and walked four.