St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 25, 2003

Another 0 for Matty Mo

By Rick Hummel

PITTSBURGH - Fueled by a postgame fireworks display, the Pittsburgh Pirates drew a crowd of 35,783 - a relative rarity here - for Saturday night's game against the Cardinals, but it was the Cardinals who supplied the outbursts early and Matt Morris did the rest in a 6-0 win.

Leadoff man Fernando Vina tripled high off the right-field wall in the first inning before he homered over it in the second. Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer in the second following a double by Albert Pujols, who has hit in 10 successive games.

And just like that, staff ace Morris had a six-pack of runs with which to operate after two innings. Morris had his good "downer" going, throwing ground-ball double plays in the first three innings - second baseman Vina turned one very smartly - and then he proceeded to throw his second consecutive shutout, a tidy nine-hitter.

The Cardinals' win was their 15th in 19 games at PNC Park and their seventh in a row over two seasons. Morris' two successive shutouts marked the first time a Cardinals pitcher had accomplished that since Bob Tewksbury threw back-to-back shutouts on Aug. 12 and Aug. 17 in 1990.

Cardinals third-base coach Jose Oquendo, who watched these back-to-backers and played second base in Tewksbury's two games, noted that each pitcher threw strikes and took advantage of strong infield defense.

"In '90, we had (Terry) Pendleton at third, Ozzie (Smith), myself and . . . Pete," said a smiling Oquendo, referring to first baseman Pedro Guerrero, not a strong defender. "But they didn't hit too many down to Pete. Night games he was all right, but in day games he had a little trouble.

"And we had a good outfield defense, too."

Morris, who also praised catcher Mike Matheny's game-handling Saturday night, said, "I threw a lot of balls where I didn't want to throw them. I wasn't as sharp as I'd like to be but I made pitches when I had to and the defense was awesome.

"You should interview the infield and the outfield for this one."

Morris (6-3) worked six innings or more for the 11th consecutive start, of which eight have lasted at least seven innings. Working on a string of 18 scoreless innings that matches his career best, the two-time All-Star also has given up only 16 earned runs in his last 10 starts, covering 76 2/3 innings, and leads the league in complete games (four) and innings pitched (83 2/3).

He tossed 122 pitches atop the 117 he had in his last start, but Morris said, "Once you get over the hump - the first month or so - and you're able to exert yourself late in games, 130 pitches and 100 pitches are pretty similar. You might make more mistakes in those last 30, but physically I don't think it matters too much."

For his career against the Pirates, Morris has an earned-run average of 1.74, although his record is a modest 6-4 against them. His six wins for the season, matching the six for Woody Williams, give the Cardinals the most wins by two starters on the same team in the National League.

"(Morris) was tough," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He has a knack of turning it up when he has to.

"He's a No. 1. There aren't too many of them around, but he's pretty good."

Morris' teammates torched loser Jeff Suppan (4-5) from the outset. After Vina's triple, Eduardo Perez blooped a run-scoring single. Pujols flied out, but Edmonds singled and Perez scored when Suppan committed a throwing error trying to pick off Edmonds at first. Scott Rolen walked and Edgar Renteria singled to make it 3-0.

Vina, whose only homer last year was a grand slam here, hit his fourth homer of the season, a solo drive, and Edmonds his 10th in the second. "(Vina) set all the tempo with his triple and home run," manager Tony La Russa said. "He's getting his game together."

Morris said: "You get three in the first, it kind of deflates them a little. It takes the wind out of their sails, and the game kind of cruised after that."

Morris permitted a raft of hits, seven, in the first six innings but they were all singles, and because of the double plays, the Pirates never had two runners on at the same time in that span.

Center fielder Edmonds made a stunning, leaping catch before banging into the wall to rob Kenny Lofton of a run-producing extra-base hit in the fifth. Lofton earlier had extended his hitting streak to 22 games, the Pirates' longest in 11 years.

Besides their normally airtight infield, left fielder Pujols and right fielder Perez made notable plays, with Perez diving to take away a hit from Jason Kendall in the seventh.

First baseman Tino Martinez also made two exceptional defensive plays, sprawling to his left to knock down balls headed for right field, but an admiring Morris, nursing a sore hamstring, was halting in covering the bag one time and totally negligent on the other occasion.

"If you watch us on nightly basis, it's kind of contagious," Vina said. "You see guys making great plays, you want to make one yourself. It's a lot of fun to watch, I imagine."

Only postseason nemesis Lofton really bothered Morris, walking twice, singling once and being robbed once.

"I change my game I want to get him out so bad," Morris said. "Once I realize I don't need to try to so hard and pitch him like everybody else, I'll be better off."