St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 20, 2001

Morris Improves to 12-2 at Busch

By Mike Eisenbath

Even though Cardinals righthander Matt Morris pitched seven shutout innings Sunday, he was dissatisfied.

"He's happy with the way things ended up," catcher Mike Matheny said, "but not with the stuff he had out there today. That says something about him."

Morris (16-7) is 12-2 with a 1.74 earned-run average at Busch Stadium. Only John Tudor had more victories one season at Busch, with 14 in 1985.

But the Phillies hit Morris hard early in Sunday's game and, uncharacteristically, he had to work behind in the count often. Pitching coach Dave Duncan noticed a flaw in Morris' mechanics that caused the ball to be up in the hitting zone.

"It's the middle of August, my 26th start," Morris said. "To throw seven shutout innings, with the stuff I had today, that shouldn't have happened. ...

"Only I know how I threw. ... When you're not hitting your spots and getting away with stuff, eventually it's going to come back and haunt you."

The Cardinals scored four unearned runs in the eighth off closer Jose Mesa. He gave up three hits and was ejected before the inning ended.

With runners at first and second, two outs and two runs already in, Mesa fired a first-pitch fastball that zinged toward Jim Edmonds' head. Edmonds got out of the way, but plate umpire Lance Barksdale issued a warning to Mesa. Then, with the count 1-2, Mesa hit a twisting Edmonds on the backside and screamed at Barksdale after being thrown out of the game.

Edmonds never seemed to respond to Mesa and refused to comment afterward. Mesa also refused. But the Phillies officially indicated Mesa's misfire was unintentional.

"I think after the guy gets warned," manager Larry Bowa said, "the pitcher is smart enough that he's not going to hit someone on purpose."

Reliever Steve Kline worked a shutout eighth inning, extending his streak to 23 consecutive innings and 25 consecutive appearances without allowing a run. His ERA has dropped to 1.64 from 2.65.

Placido Polanco traveled home to Miami on Sunday because his father-in-law died after a long illness. Polanco probably will miss at least two games.

J.D. Drew, who has missed the past 12 games because of a back sprain, should be back in the Cardinals lineup tonight.