ST. LOUIS -- If there is ever a Groundhog Day Part II, Columbia/Tri Star Studios should contact Roger Clemens instead of Bill Murray to fill the lead role. Clemens has to be feeling these days like he's waking up and reliving the same scene, over and over again, with the same frustrating ending.

The ending? A Houston Astros loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, in much the same manner as the Astros' previous two losses when Clemens pitched: final score, 1-0.

But this time, the game went only 10 innings. Clemens' last start on April 18 against the Braves went 12, and in New York on April 13, it went 11.

In the end, however, it all adds up to zero, as in the number of runs the Astros have scored for the Rocket. Clemens extended his personal scoreless-innings streak to 23 on Saturday, holding the Cardinals to four hits over seven frames. Unfortunately for Clemens, his Astros teammates are keeping up the pace right along with him, neglecting to score a run over 25 innings during Clemens' starts.

In fact, the last time Clemens had any run support was when he drove in his own runs, with a two-run single on April 8.

"You can't pitch any better, in keeping them from scoring," manager Phil Garner said. "He didn't have his best stuff today, but as I've seen since I've been here, he just competes. We didn't do a very good job offensivley today, obviously."

Clemens indicated his concerns were more with the team's loss than his own win column. Clemens is stuck on 329 career wins, tied with Steve Carlton for ninth place on the all-time list.

"We lost and that's the thing that's upsetting," Clemens said. "I've got enough wins by my name. I'm not concerned about that. When you're able to go deep into these games and you keep them close, especially on the road, you'd like to take advantage of that.

"Obviously, you have a home field advantage because you get that last swing. It was another good game. That's the way you look at it."

A hefty crowd of 40,058 was treated to a Larry Walker double off Brad Lidge in the 10th, which scored Reggie Sanders from second. Walker's hit traveled all the way to the wall in center, making it impossible for Willy Taveras to retrieve the ball and start a relay home in time to prevent the run from scoring.

The inning ended Lidge's streak of 29 consecutive appearances with at least one strikeout. Walker was the only batter he faced.

"It was a fastball in," Lidge said. "I haven't had a chance to see where it was, but I talked to [catcher] Brad [Ausmus], and I think I threw it right where I was hoping to throw it. I was a little suprised [Walker] got it there and drove the ball as well as he did.

"I didn't make a terrible pitch or anything. But I think a lot of credit goes to him, because he got it and drove in the game-winning run."

Until that moment, neither offense could figure out its opponent. St. Louis' Mark Mulder matched zeroes with Clemens and lasted through the 10th to pick up the well-deserved win.

Manager Phil Garner felt Mulder was good, but not unhittable.

"I think he pitched a pretty decent game," Garner said. "But we swung at a lot of balls. If we lay off of some of those, maybe it's a different story. We need to be a little better selective next time."

Jason Lane, one of four Astros to log a hit against Mulder, agreed.

"I think definitely we could have shown some more patience, at least [we could have] made him throw some more pitches and maybe he'd have to come out of the game earlier," Lane said. "Guys were just being aggressive, trying a little too hard to jump on him, and he was just staying just out of the zone or on the corners."

The Astros have played 10 one-run games this year, and lost seven. While a 1-0 loss is hard to swallow, Garner doesn't see it as any more disappointing than the others.

"They're just losses," Garner said. "At least we're in them. It's no tougher than 10-0 or 15-10. They're still losses.

"We've had well-pitched games. We'd like to get something across the board, get the offense to jell, do something. Obviously, you feel like you can win a ballgame when you hold the opponents to zero for most of the game."