stlcardinals.com
June 21, 2003

Morris' Struggles Continue in Loss

By Matthew Leach

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Morris did not complain of any pain on Friday night -- except when he looked at the scoreboard.

The St. Louis ace's brutal June continued in a 10-4 loss to the Royals at Busch Stadium. Morris, winless in three straight starts, gave up five runs in five innings on a night when his velocity was significantly down from its usual low to mid 90s. He rarely hit 90 mph on the Busch Stadium radar gun. The right-hander has been tagged for 20 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings in four June starts, for a 10.19 ERA.

In recent starts, Morris complained of discomfort beneath his right shoulder, but he said he felt better on Friday. The results only partly backed him up.

"I don't think there's anything positive out of today," he said. "It's not a problem with my arm, it's just a problem with location. My velocity's a little down, but I got the ball up in some bad spots."

Desi Relaford, Ken Harvey and Angel Berroa all homered for the Royals, who improved to 11-11 all-time against St. Louis. The Cardinals missed a chance to pull into a first-place tie in the NL Central with the Cubs, who lost to the White Sox earlier in the day.

Jeff Fassero gave up two of the home runs and four runs in just over an inning. After pitching the top of the sixth, Fassero was left in to bunt for himself in the bottom of the inning. He failed to get one down, then was ripped for the four runs when he came back to take the mound. Fassero has been scored upon in five of his past eight appearances.

Playing with a short bench due to Scott Rolen's neck injury, manager Tony La Russa defended his decision -- even if it turned out to be costly.

"He had a way to advance the runner," La Russa said. "Rolen's not available. (Joe) Girardi, you're not gonna use. So it's either (Wilson) Delgado or (Orlando) Palmeiro.

"(In the) sixth inning, I think it would have been a good idea to save Palmeiro for later. If he gets the bunt down, you've got a chance. If not, (it's a) two-run game and you've got two players you use."

Although Morris did not look his sharpest, but appeared to be in control through four innings. He allowed a leadoff homer to Relaford, then settled down, getting through the fourth inning without permitting another run. He pitched a perfect fourth, his first 1-2-3 inning of the game, before getting into trouble in the fifth.

"He wasn't throwing as hard as I've seen him throw," Relaford said. "I've seen him throw 94-95. Tonight he was 88-89. Maybe that was part of it."

Kansas City starter Jose Lima beat out an infield hit to lead off the inning, and Relaford singled up the middle. Morris retired Joe Randa on a comebacker before hitting Carlos Beltran on the shoulder with a pitch. Raul Ibañez made him pay, smacking a three-run double to left. Harvey doubled Ibañez home to make it 5-0, and after Morris struck out the next two batters he was done for the evening.

"That's a tough four spot to give up," La Russa said. "At that point we're trying to win the game. I don't think he pitched well but he said he felt all right. The home run, the guy was 0-1. Then he had the same guy 0-2, and a base hit. That's a lot of damage to be ahead in the count."

Fassero pitched a scoreless sixth and the Cardinals got back in the game in the bottom of that inning. Jim Edmonds drew a leadoff walk and Edgar Renteria singled off Randa's glove at third, then Edmonds advanced on a wild pitch and Renteria stole second. Tino Martinez drove in a run with a groundout and Mike Matheny laced an RBI triple to right. Rookie Bo Hart kept up his strong start with a run-scoring single, cutting it to 5-3 and bringing up the pitcher's spot.

"I'm too nervous as it is to start thinking," said Hart, who made his Busch Stadium debut. "I'm just trying to put the bat on the ball and trying to help this team."

La Russa elected to give Fassero his first at-bat of the year, and Fassero struck out trying to bunt. Eduardo Perez's lineout to third ended the inning, and Fassero was hammered in the top of the next frame.

Ibañez reached on an infield single, and Harvey followed with the homer that made it 7-3. It was more of the same as Michael Tucker reached on a squibber and Berroa deposited a shot 413 feet to right field.

The Cards added another run on a Renteria single and Kansas City closed out the scoring with Harvey's RBI single.