Clemens prevails in Maddux battle

Clemens only came out of retirement in June

Roger Clemens saw off Greg Maddux in a rare match-up between 300-game winners as Houston beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2.

The mouth-watering contest lived up to expectations as the future Hall of Fame pitchers went toe-to-toe for six riveting innings at Wrigley Field.

Clemens (2-3) prevailed, scattering three hits over six shut-out innings to earn a 343rd career win and move into eighth place on the all-time list.

Maddux (7-11) went seven innings, yielding three runs on seven hits.

"I know when I'm going up against Greg, it's going to be a battle of wills, that's for sure," Clemens told MLB.com.

Maddux got off to a bad start when Craig Biggio belted the Cubs starter's second pitch over the left-field wall for the 49th lead-off homer of his career.

The Rocket made that run stand up until the sixth inning when Preston Wilson stroked a two-run double to give the Astros a winning advantage.

An eighth inning two-run homer from Todd Walker off Trever Miller pulled the Cubs to within a run.

But the Astros added an insurance run on Adam Everett's sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.

"I'm just not pitching good enough to win," Maddux said afterwards. "It's good enough to stay in games, but not good enough to win."