mlb.com
July 24, 2002

Edmonds, Morris Shine In Win

By Chris Shuttlesworth

SAN FRANCISCO -- When you scan the Cardinals' stats, it's hard not to notice Jim Edmonds' team-leading .324 batting average and his 20 homers and 52 RBIs that both rank second only to Albert Pujols.

Yet even winning pitcher Matt Morris almost seemed to take for granted the steady performance of the Cardinals' center fielder, who drove in a pair of runs in Tuesday's 4-0 victory over the Giants.

"Was that Jim? He gave us two? Oh yeah, he did, one in each," said Morris. "He's there everyday. He shows up everyday, and you can almost count on him. Usually in baseball, you can't count on everybody everyday. He came up huge with a homer and then the (RBI) double down the left-field line."

For the second consectuvie game, Edmonds homered -- a towering shot that nearly cleared the stands in right-center, the deepest part of Pacific Bell Park. His double in the seventh that pushed home Placido Polanco banged off the left-field fence. And his homer Monday night just cleared the fence in straightaway center.

"That's what I like, when he uses the whole field," said manager Tony La Russa. "They pitch him away, he hits the ball to left field; they pitch him in, he pulls it. He's a legitimate .300 hitter with power and run production."

The 32-year-old All-Star is also one of the few Cardinals who entered Tuesday's contest with a modest record of success against Giants starter Jason Schmidt (5-5), bringing a 3-for-9 lifetime mark into the game before going 2-for-3 Tuesday against the right-hander. He struck out in the first and walked in the fifth.

One of the league leaders in road batting average, Edmonds has a knack for hitting at the pitcher-friendly Pacific Bell Park. With his three hits and four RBIs in the first two games of the series, Edmonds is 10-for-28 (.357) mark with eight RBIs at Pac Bell.

But although Edmonds called the yard "a beautiful place," he said he doesn't particularly like hitting there, especially in the first inning or two when it's harder to see the ball.

"The first at-bat is one of the worst ever. I've heard a lot of the Giants guys complain," he said. "I don't really think too much about being in certain parks. It's a big outfield, and it gives you a lot of chances to hit the ball in the gaps. I just must be lucky here."

Edmonds' "luck," Tino Martinez's first-inning two-run double and a wicked breaking ball helped boost Morris to his 12th win of the season and second in a row, both over the Giants, who struggled without the injured Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Reggie Sanders.

"I'm happy -- who wouldn't be?" said Morris (12-6) about the missing sluggers. "It's unfortunate a couple of them are sore or hurting a little bit and they needed their rest. It's good timing for me and the Cardinals."

La Russa still gave his ace, who struck out eight, plenty of credit for shutting out the Giants over eight innings.

"Today, Matt had good stuff," he said. "They had three of their studs on the bench, but the guys that were out there were making Matt work. You know, 120 pitches in eight innings, it wasn't an easy game for him. They had several chances; he rose to the occasion.

"We got him the lead in the first inning and he made it stand up. That's hard to do. But each time that they had a chance to score, that was when he was at his best. It was very impressive."

Long line at the training room

The Giants weren't the only ones complaining of aches and pains after the game. Tino Martinez left the game after the fifth inning because a diving stop aggravated a sore back.

"We actually talked to him before the game about missing this one because he's got a soreness from a slide he made the other day," said La Russa. "He's had it about four or five days, but he said he could play through it. He knew I was going rest him (Wednesday), and I actually talked to him about maybe not playing Thursday.

"So not (Wednesday) and I would think not Thursday either. Hopefully, he can play Friday."

Said Martinez: "My back has been bothering me, and I just tried to stretch out. I probably wasn't going to play tomorrow against the lefty (Kirk Rueter), and I didn't want to sit out two days in a row."

Placido Polanco took a Schmidt pitch in the hand in the first inning, and Edgar Renteria fouled a ball off his leg later in the game. Both stayed in, and La Russa was cautiously optimistic that both were OK.

"Fortunately Polanco got hit, we think, in the fleshy part of the hand and missed the bone," he said. "That was really scary. And I think Edgar got hit on the muscle, not on the kneecap or something."