Chicago ? Matt Clement shut out the Giants and shut down Barry Bonds.

Clement pitched a two-hitter for his third career shutout, and Moises Alou hit a three-run homer in the first inning to lead the Chicago Cubs over San Francisco 3-0 Tuesday night.

Clement (8-9) struck out eight and walked two as the Giants lost for just the second time in the last 12 games. Bonds went 0-for-3.

“A team like that is going to be on you and they aren’t going to let you out of jams,” Clement said. “They aren’t going to miss if they get a lot of runners on base.”

Chicago pulled within 31/2 games of first-place Houston in the NL Central, while St. Louis moved within two games of the lead.

Clement struck out the side on nine pitches in the fifth inning and allowed just a bloop single down the right-field line and an infield single past the mound. Clement, who walked two, even received a standing ovation after striking out in the eighth.

Clement matched the low-hit game of his career, on May 28 last year against Pittsburgh. While Clement has pitched at least six innings and allowed three runs or fewer in his last seven starts, he is just 3-2 in that span.

“This was his best game,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “He had it going on. We got the early runs from (Alou) and that’s all that Matt needed.”

It was Clement’s first shutout since a three-hitter against Arizona last Aug. 24 and his fourth complete game.

The only hits for the Giants were a fourth-inning infield single by Marquis Grissom and a seventh-inning single to right by Andres Galarraga. Neither were hit hard.

“He had a good slider and spotted it well, and we didn’t do a very good job of picking it up or laying off it,” said Jose Cruz Jr., who struck out twice.

Bonds, who entered with a .429 average and three homers against Clement, went hitless with two flyouts.

Braves 6, Astros 3

Atlanta — Russ Ortiz (15-4) stretched his winning streak to a career-high eight games and hit a homer, leading Atlanta over Houston Astros in a matchup of division leaders .

Marcus Giles had a career-high five hits and set an Atlanta record with nine consecutive hits over two games. Gary Sheffield hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth that put the Braves ahead for good.

Houston starter Roy Oswalt left in the third after reinjuring his right groin.

Cardinals 2, Expos 1

Montreal — Scott Rolen’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning led St. Louis past Montreal. Garrett Stephenson scattered four hits for his first complete game since Aug. 5, 2000, and outdueled Livan Hernandez in a game that took just 2 hours and 4 minutes. Rolen was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a homer in the second inning.

Marlins 2, D’backs 1

Miami — Brad Penny allowed one run and four hits in seven-plus innings to lead surging Florida over Arizona, which lost a team-record eighth straight road game. The Diamondbacks have been outscored 10-8 while playing six consecutive one-run games, another club record. They’ve lost four of the six.

Phillies 2, Dodgers 0

Philadelphia — Vicente Padilla pitched eight shutout innings and Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer as Philadelphia ended a four-game losing streak. Padilla (10-8) allowed three hits, struck out four and walked one. Dan Plesac retired one batter in the ninth, and Jose Mesa got the final two outs for his 20th save.

Kazuhisa Ishii (9-5) took the loss for the Dodgers, who were shut out for the second time in five games.

Rockies 5, Reds 3

Cincinnati — Jay Payton matched his career high with four hits, leading Colorado to a victory over Cincinnati in the Reds’ first game under interim manager Dave Miley.

Darren Oliver (9-6) gave up four hits and three runs in six-plus innings, improving to 6-1 in his last eight starts. He also had a pair of hits.

Brewers 6, Mets 3

New York — Royce Clayton hit a three-run homer, and Keith Osik added a solo shot as Milwaukee beat New York.

New York starter Tom Glavine left the game after the first inning because of a right ribcage strain. He is day to day.

Padres 8, Pirates 7

Pittsburgh — Mark Loretta’s go-ahead, two-run single followed Rondell White’s tying homer in San Diego’s four-run ninth inning. The Padres squandered a four-run lead before rallying. The Pirates led 6-4 going into the ninth, but White’s two-run homer — his 17th — off Mike Lincoln (1-2) tied it. White was 0-for-11 until he singled in the sixth.

Gary Matthews Jr.’s single and two walks loaded the bases before Loretta singled to center off Brian Boehringer as the Padres sent 10 batters to the plate in the ninth.