Cardinals take three of four in series against Cubs

AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Matt Morris threw a four-hitter and Albert Pujols homered as the St. Louis Cardinals retained a dominating home field advantage against the Chicago Cubs, winning 2-0 on Monday.

The Cardinals took three of four in the series, outscoring the Cubs 17-8, and pulled two games behind the NL Central leaders. The Cubs are 2-11 at Busch Stadium the last two years and 4-23 there over the last four years.

Pujols hit his 11th homer on a 1-2 pitch from Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth for the Cardinals' second run, and was 5-for-14 in the series with a pair of homers and four RBIs. The other run scored on a double play ball in the third inning.

Morris (5-3) outdueled 21-year-old Carlos Zambrano, striking out eight and walking none for his fourth career shutout and first since blanking the Cubs 3-0 on May 13, 2002 in St. Louis. It was his third complete game of the year and 11th of his career.

The Cubs got three runners into scoring position, on doubles by Corey Patterson in the first, Lenny Harris in the fifth and Mark Grudzielanek in the sixth.

Morris has worked six or more innings in all of his 10 starts and eight or more in three of his last four outings. He has won four of his last five starts and improved his career record against the Cubs to 9-2 with a 3.53 ERA.

Zambrano (4-4) allowed one run, unearned, on five hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked three.

But Zambrano's error, the 12th by Cubs pitchers this season, led to the game's first run. After Mike Matheny singled to start the third, Zambrano threw wildly to second on Morris' bunt in an attempt to get the force, putting runners on first and third. Matheny scored when Fernando Vina bounced into a double play.

Morris retired the last 11 batters and benefited from some strong defense. Third baseman Scott Rolen made a diving stab of Harris' drive to start the eighth and J.D. Drew tracked down Patterson's warning track drive in the sixth.

In Morris' last nine starts he has allowed only 16 earned runs in 67 2-3 innings for a 2.13 ERA.

Notes: Patterson stretched his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games with a double in the first and is 17-for-45 during that stretch with three homers and 12 RBIs. The entire Cardinals team has made only three more errors than the total for the Cubs pitchers. St. Louis' league-leading defense, which features four Gold Glove winners from last season, hasn't committed an error in 83 1-3 innings since May 8 at Cincinnati. ... Rolen singled in the fourth and is 18-for-44 during a 13-game hitting streak with four homers and 11 RBIs.