Card rookie lands 1st win

LOS ANGELES -- Dan Haren's teammates surprised him with a beer bath after the 22-year-old right-hander outdueled seven-time All-Star Kevin Brown for his first major league victory.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was still briefing reporters in the visiting manager's office about Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers while Haren slipped out of the clubhouse to meet family and friends -- leaving reporters to wonder what he thought about his first major league win.

"He had good composure out there, considering everybody he knew in the stands -- and some he didn't know," said teammate Mike Matheny, who has caught all four of Haren's big league starts. "There were a lot of people here cheering for him, so it was nice to see him get the first win in front of his family and friends."

Haren (1-2) allowed a run and six hits, including a third-inning homer by Alex Cora.

"He's only had one bad start, in San Francisco, when he tried to a little too much," Matheny said. "But every other start was a lot like what we saw today. He used his off-speed pitches in tough counts -- not just fastballs when he got behind."

Haren, whose only professional experience entering this season was at the Single-A level, was called up at the end of June after going 6-0 in eight starts with Double-A Tennessee and 2-1 in eight starts with Triple-A Memphis.

"He's gotten the toughest matchups -- Jason Schmidt, Kevin Brown -- but he's shown a lot of guts and he goes out and competes," La Russa said.

Jason Isringhausen got three outs for his sixth save in seven attempts.

Brown, who missed two turns in the rotation -- and the All-Star game -- because of a lower abdominal strain, allowed two runs and five hits over six innings after being activated from the disabled list. One of the runs against him was unearned, the result of his errant pickoff throw to first base in the third.

"I was a little rusty and I made a couple of bad pitches early on," Brown said. "But it's hard to be too disappointed after a couple of weeks of not pitching. It's nice to compete again, although I'd like better results."

Brown (10-5) lost his fourth straight start despite striking out six and walking none. It was his first defeat in his seven decisions against the Cardinals since July 27, 1997, when they beat him and the Florida Marlins 6-4.

St. Louis won for the first time in three games since the All-Star break. No team managed by La Russa has come out of the break worse than 0-2 since 1984, when the Chicago White Sox lost their first three to Baltimore.

Scott Rolen, who was 2-for-4 with a home run, led off the second with a double and scored on Edgar Renteria's sacrifice fly. Two-out singles by J.D. Drew and Pujols put runners at the corners in the third, and Drew scored when Brown's attempted pickoff throw got past first baseman Mike Kinkade. It was Brown's first error in 19 starts.

Drew threw out Jolbert Cabrera from right field as he tried to stretch a single into a double in the third. The play was pivotal because Cora followed with his second homer of the season.

"I was just trying to make the play in the corner and I didn't really think he was going to keep going," Drew said. "But that ball kind of took a while to get to me, but I did what I could and we got him by a hair."

Rolen made it 3-1 in the seventh against Guillermo Mota with his 19th homer.

Cora had another chance to do some damage in the fifth with runners at second and third, but struck out. Haren walked Shawn Green, but Hart snared Paul Lo Duca's hard liner to second for the third out.

"He made the pitches when he had to," Cora said. "He threw me a split -- probably the slowest pitch he threw the whole game -- and he got me out. You've got to put the ball in play in that situation and at least cash in one run. That cost us the game."

Notes: Dodgers OF Rickey Henderson, who homered Friday night for the first time since returning to the majors, flied out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. ... Cardinals LHP Rick Ankiel, who underwent season-ending reconstructive surgery Wednesday on his elbow, turned 24 on Saturday. ... In 1982, the first of La Russa's 22 years as a big league manager, the White Sox were swept in a five-game series by Milwaukee coming out of the All-Star break. ... OF Chad Hermansen, who is out of minor league options, was designated for assignment to make room on the Dodgers' roster for Brown. ... Edmonds, whose hitting streak ended at 11 games. He was 0-for-3 and struck out looking twice.