stlcardinals.com
July 14, 2002

Morris' Outing Picks Up Club

By Matthew Leach

SAN DIEGO -- Matt Morris has been tested before. He worked his way back from Tommy John surgery to be an effective reliever in 2000 and a dominating starter in 2001. He held his own against Curt Schilling twice in the 2001 playoffs. Most recently, he had to pitch just three days after his friend and teammate Darryl Kile died.

His start against the Padres on Saturday was another trial for the right-hander, and in its own way one of the biggest. Morris was trying to bounce back from back-to-back rough starts. He was trying to emerge from a personal funk. And perhaps most important, he was trying to re-establish himself as the anchor in a suddenly shaky St. Louis rotation.

He accomplished all those goals, pitching superbly in the Cardinals' 2-1 win over San Diego. Morris gave up one run on four hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking two. He didn't pick up the victory, but he did pick up his team.

"I was able to make pitches when I needed to, mostly, the whole game," Morris said. "It's a lot better when you remember your mistakes rather than the couple pitches you made. The last couple outings, I remembered the 10 pitches or handful of pitches that (I made). Today I remember a handful that I missed. It's a nice turn."

With the strong outing, Morris showed that he can shake everything off and go out and pitch, something he's had trouble doing recently.

"Any time someone is able to mentally say, hey, I did my job -- whether you got the win, the loss, or what happened -- it's always mentally satisfying and kind of takes some pressure off you. But I go out there next time, I gotta keep my concentration. It's not like it's gonna help me for next game."

In each of his last two games, Morris was staked to a big early lead, only to watch it fall by the wayside. He had no such luxury on Saturday. St. Louis didn't even record its first hit until Fernando Vina singled through the right side in the sixth. Eduardo Perez gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh with his solo home run.

But one thing remained the same: Morris gave up the lead. In the bottom of the seventh, the Padres tied it up. Ron Gant led off with a double then scored on a pair of groundouts. That was Morris' last inning. By the time Kerry Robinson's bloop single scored Edgar Renteria for the final margin in the 10th inning, Morris was long gone.

"His last few starts, he hasn't been Matt Morris, but he's still given us a chance to win," Robinson said. "He went out there and sucked it up. I guess he refreshed his mind over the break, and he gave us a great opportunity to win tonight. It's unfortunate he didn't get the official win, but we all know what he did for us out there."

Manager Tony La Russa said before Saturday's game, and again afterward, what is obvious to anyone who follows this team: For the Cardinals to win the National League Central and challenge for a World Series title, Morris must be at his best. He was exactly that on Saturday.

"There's nothing else on this club more important than Matt pitching like that," La Russa said.

"He was concentrating really, really well. He was locked in. That's the Matt Morris that's one of the top pitchers in our league."

Concentration, which has seemed to be a problem for Morris in recent starts, was evident from the start on Saturday. Morris worked quickly but not in a hurry. When things got dicey, he took time to compose himself.

"There (were) a couple situations that he had to make a pitch, and it was good to see that he, when he stepped off the mound, that he wanted to make that pitch," said catcher Mike DiFelice, who has been behind the plate for all but three of Morris' 20 starts this year. "Not to say that he didn't before. A guy like that, such a competitor, it was good to see. It was a lot of fun and you saw that no-lose attitude. And that's pretty much what he's about. That's his whole personality."

Five days from now, Morris gets the ball again, and he'll have an even tougher assignment, facing Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and the playoff-contending Giants. But if Saturday is any indication, he'll be up to it.

"I'm sure everybody in here is real excited about how Matty pitched today," DiFelice said. "It's been tough for our whole team and especially for him. It was nice to see (him) get a little refreshed, take some days off, come out and get that competitive edge back. He did a great job tonight. That's the Matt Morris that we all know."