stlcardinals.com
May 19, 2003

Morris masterful against Cubs

By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- Give Matt Morris a lead, in a game or in a series, and he knows what to do with it.

Morris pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout since May 13, 2002, as the Cardinals downed the Cubs, 2-0, on Monday afternoon in the finale of a four-game series. St. Louis took three out of four from its old rival and closed within two games of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central. The Cards are tied with Houston for second place in the division, and they open a three-game series at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night.

It looked almost effortless for Morris as he induced one ground out after another, improving to 9-2 lifetime against the Cubs. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter, recording 13 outs on the ground. It was his third complete game this year, tying Curt Schilling for the most in the National League this season, and the four hits matched his career-best in a complete game.

"That's one of those that you don't even have to explain," said manager Tony La Russa. "Just look at the score. Nine-inning shutout, (when it was) a little bit muggy. He's a champion."

Carlos Zambrano matched Morris nearly pitch-for-pitch, lasting seven innings and not allowing an earned run. It wasn't a pitch, but rather a throw to second base, that was the young right-hander's undoing.

Zambrano's throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Morris -- the 12th error by a Cubs pitcher this season -- allowed Mike Matheny to advance from first to third. Matheny scored when the next batter, Fernando Vina, grounded into a double play. By contrast, the Cardinals have committed 15 errors this year total.

Matheny had led off the third inning with a single to left. Morris put down a bunt and Zambrano tried to throw out Matheny at second rather than going to first. The throw got away and dribbled into shallow center field. When Vina hit into a double play, it should have ended the inning, but instead Matheny scored and Morris had a run to work with.

And one run was enough. Morris did not permit more than one baserunner in any inning, and only one Cub reached third base. His ERA dropped to 2.53, seventh in the National League, while his 60 strikeouts are tied for sixth. He looked every bit like the ace of a starting rotation that seems to get stronger every week. Morris threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of 30 batters, and recorded six first-pitch outs.

His efficiency allowed him to go the distance, removing the necessity to go to a bullpen that has struggled at times this year.

"My thought process never changes," Morris said. "You can't go out there and try to get quick outs. You can go out there and throw good strikes, quality strikes. If they swing, hopefully you get an out from it. If they don't, hopefully it's a strike. When you make quality pitches, you get outs.

Though the Cubs still lead the Central, they know the road to a division title goes through Busch Stadium, and that is not good news. Chicago is 4-23 in St. Louis since the beginning of the 2000 season. The Cardinals have made the playoffs in each of those three years.

"Every series is competitive," Morris said. "There's no team that's gonna roll over, especially when we come to town. It's exciting for the fans, the whole first-place deal that's going on, but it's too early for that. We'll see in September, when it really matters."

Morris wasn't the only star for St. Louis. In addition to getting some help from his defense, he also got an insurance run from Albert Pujols. The slugging left fielder smashed a solo homer off of Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth for the final margin.

"It was a fight till the end," Morris said. "Albert came up with a big home run late in the game to take a little pressure off. But still they've got a good enough lineup to come back. We've seen a lot of home runs in the ninth, between myself and the rest of us."