The Houston Astros need a healthy Roger Clemens if they hope to make the playoffs.

The Rocket says they have one - even if the results of his latest start made it hard for everyone to believe him.

Clemens gave up a season-high five earned runs in the Astros' 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night. He allowed four runs in the seventh inning, also his highest total of the season.

"I think his hip was bothering him a little," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "It's very uncharacteristic of him to have that kind of inning."

Houston fell out of the lead for the NL wild card and is tied for second with Washington, a half-game behind Philadelphia. But the loss came with some good news for the Astros: Clemens said he felt fine physically.

Clemens (11-5) made his fifth start since revealing that he had hurt his back late last month. He was 3-0 in the first four outings, but said he felt better Thursday night than he did in those games.

"I believe my body to be back on the upswing," Clemens said. "After four starts, it's finally improving. It sure feels that way."

Clemens was protecting a 1-0 lead before Rickie Weeks homered in the sixth, ending Clemens' season-high scoreless innings streak at 26. One inning later, Damian Miller hit a two-run double to highlight the four-run seventh and chase Clemens.

"I felt I started throwing instead of pitching then," said Clemens, whose major league-leading ERA rose from 1.32 to 1.53. "The bottom line is there's no excuse for that."

Houston has lost three straight and five of six.

Tomo Ohka (8-7) allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings. Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 27th save for the Brewers, who were impressed by Clemens - and their ability to come back against him.

"We just tried to wait him out until he made some mistakes," said Bill Hall, who had an RBI single to start the scoring in the seventh. "In the seventh inning, he made a few and we took advantage of them. The guy's 43 years old. It's hard to believe he's still painting the corners with 94 mph fastballs."

Carlos Baerga's go-ahead single in the eighth lifted Washington to a split of a day-night doubleheader in Philadelphia.In the opener, Vicente Padilla (6-11) kept up his recent run of outstanding starts and Bobby Abreu delivered a key two-RBI double.The Nationals rallied against Ugueth Urbina (3-1) in the eighth to split the four-game series.Luis Ayala (8-6) earned the win for Washington with two scoreless innings of relief. Chad Cordero pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his 39th save.

At Miami, Josh Beckett (12-6) pitched seven innings and had an RBI single as Florida shut out San Diego for the second straight game.Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 26th save. The shutout tied Florida's team record of 14 set last year.Jake Peavy (10-6) allowed two runs, five hits, three walks and struck out nine in losing consecutive starts for the only second time this season.

At Atlanta, Jeff Weaver (11-8) won his fourth straight decision and Milton Bradley hit a three-run homer for Los Angeles, which has won five of seven.Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 39th homer for Atlanta, but John Thomson (3-3) gave up eight hits and seven runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Claudio Vargas (7-6) worked six solid innings and Luis Gonzalez homered twice to help Arizona avoid a three-game sweep at St. Louis.Cardinals pitcher Jason Marquis (9-12) had an infield hit and an RBI double his first two at-bats, giving him six straight hits. He leads all pitchers with 25 hits and a .373 average.Troy Glaus had three hits and an RBI and Royce Clayton had a two-run double for the Diamondbacks, who ended a four-game losing streak in which they were outscored 35-15.

At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 530th career home run and Felipe Lopez also connected off Brett Tomko (7-13) as Cincinnati avoided a sweep.Ramon Ortiz (8-8) pitched a season-high 7 2-3 innings in helping prevent the Giants' first four-game sweep in Cincinnati since May 1983.Giants closer Armando Benitez made his first appearance since injuring his right hamstring on April 26. Benitez, who needed surgery to repair two torn tendons, got the final two outs of the eighth.

Bartolo Colon shut down Boston's big hitters and Juan Rivera took care of the Angels' offense with two swings.Rivera hit a pair of three-run homers and Colon won his fifth straight decision as Los Angeles defeated the Red Sox 13-4 on Thursday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.Rivera isn't an everyday player, but he made the most of his at-bats, homering on the second pitch from Mike Myers after Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield got hit in the right ankle on a comebacker by Casey Kotchman and left the game in the fifth inning.The Angels extended their AL West lead to 21/2 games over idle Oakland. Boston's lead over the idle New York Yankees dropped to four games in the East.

Jake Westbrook won for the fifth time in six starts and Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including a two-run homer, for the Indians. Cleveland won for the second time in six games at Jacobs Field after completing a 6-0 trip to Detroit and Kansas City.Westbrook (11-13) allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings to improve to 9-4 in 13 starts since June 14.Mark Teixeira drove in two runs for Texas, which lost for the eighth time in nine games - all on the road.

Matthew LeCroy hit his third homer in two games to lead Minnesota to its fifth straight victory.Justin Morneau had two RBIs, including the go-ahead run in the third, and Shannon Stewart had his second four-hit game of the season in the Twins' seventh win in eight games.LeCroy gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead in the first inning when he hit a two-run homer off Ryan Franklin (6-13), who lost his second straight start since his 10-day suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.Joe Mays (6-8) allowed three earned runs and nine hits in six innings for his first win since July 3.