St. Louis Post-Dispatch
April 12, 2003

Kent Crushes Morris, Cards In 9th

By Joe Strauss

HOUSTON - For 118 pitches and 26 outs Friday night, Matt Morris gave his bruised teammates a glimpse at a pitching ace working over their closest rival.

And with one misplaced pitch to the wrong hitter, it suddenly didn't matter.

The Houston Astros reinforced a trend as frustrating to the Cardinals as it is deepening when second baseman Jeff Kent wheeled on Morris' two-out fastball for a game-ending, two-run home run in a 3-2 victory. In the time it took Kent's blast to climb onto the Minute Maid Park concourse in left-center field, Morris, disbelieving manager Tony La Russa and his dazed teammates saw a potential five-hit complete game morph into the Cardinals' fourth one-run loss of a nine-game season. It was also the fourth time they have lost in an opponent's final at-bat, something that happened only 15 times all last year.

Now 1-3 on a nine-game trip, the Cardinals have begun to see one day's misdeeds affect the next day's calculations.

Steve Kline warmed in the bullpen as the ninth inning began. But after Morris got two quick outs, he was not considered to match up against one of the Astros' approaching righthanded hitters. Kline allowed a game-losing home run to Colorado Rockies' Jose Hernandez on Thursday.

"If one of the first two guys gets on base, I was going to get Matt," La Russa said. "Once he gets two outs it's his game.

Lefthanded reliever Jeff Fassero never stirred. Last Saturday he was given Morris' 1-0 lead to start the ninth inning and surrendered the tying and winning runs in a 2-1 loss to Houston at Busch Stadium. In that game, Morris was lifted after 103 pitches.

"If I do my job then, he's not in that situation tonight," Fassero said.

Morris had retired 13 straight hitters before Lance Berkman's bad-hop single past first baseman Tino Martinez extended the ninth inning. He then doubled over as Kent circled the bases. The Cardinals have lost five of their past six games to fall below .500 (4-5) for the first time since last May 14.

La Russa showered, dressed and was among the first to leave.

Many players languished in a clubhouse dining room or at their lockers.

"The last inning hasn't been very good," said shortstop Edgar Renteria. "Right now we aren't a very lucky team."

If the Cardinals look at themselves, it's probably through a cracked mirror. Morris got the first two outs of the ninth inning on a fly ball to deep center field and Jeff Bagwell's drive that pushed right fielder Eli Marrero against an eight-foot wall. At the time, Morris was able to smile into his glove at his good fortune. Cleanup hitter Berkman approached with Morris having held the middle third of the Astros' lineup to a combined 0-for-nine night.

Berkman crushed a one-hop smash to first baseman Martinez, but the ball took a wild hop that bounced where the fielder's head had been a split second before. Martinez recoiled and the ball ricocheted off his right hand for a single.

Morris then started Kent off with a pair of wild curveballs. Pitching coach Dave Duncan visited the mound to remind Morris to keep his composure.

On Morris' fifth pitch to Kent - a sinker intended to be down and away that stayed too high and caught too much of the plate - the game turned upside down.

"I think they're all tough losses," Morris said. "I let the team down tonight. Today it was a bad pitch at the end and that's the ballgame."

He added, "I think losing these tight games is tough. We fight back when we're down. ... It's funny how the situation came up five days ago. I was taken out. Either way, we all can second-guess this and that. But we've got to go out and compete hard. Today, I had the ball and gave it up."

Duncan did not shrink from the decision to stay with Morris and away from what has been an unreliable bullpen.

"You look at how he was pitching, who was coming up, how quickly he got the first two outs, the weather was perfect ... that's why you stay with him," he said.

The Cardinals entered Houston leading the National League with a .308 team average. They faced righthanded starter Brian Moehler, who started but did not factor in the decision in last Friday's 12-inning, 6-5 win at Busch Stadium.

This time, the Cardinals had less success against Moehler, though for the second time in three games they did not strike out against an opposing starter

Again, center fielder Jim Edmonds played the role of Astros-basher. With two outs in the first inning, he sent Moehler's 3-1 pitch beyond the 404-foot sign in left-center field for a 1-0 lead.

Edmonds entered the series a career .430 hitter at Minute Maid Park and a lifetime .406 hitter with 17 home runs and 41 RBIs in 48 games against the Astros. Edmonds was also hitting .688 (11 for 16) against righthanded pitching this season. Moehler couldn't reverse any of the trends. When Edmonds next appeared in the third inning, Moehler walked him.

The Cardinals bumped their lead to 2-0 thanks to consecutive hits by left fielder Albert Pujols and third baseman Scott Rolen, plus a break from the umpiring crew.

With Pujols at first base, Rolen lofted an opposite-field flare that barely landed inside the right-field foul line. When the ball kicked toward the stands, a fan touched it, automatically giving Rolen a ground-rule double. However, it is up to umpires' judgment where to place a baserunner in such a situation, and plate umpire Jerry Meals ruled the sore-legged Pujols would have scored.