Cards rebound after dropping 15-inning opener

CHICAGO -- Matt Morris outpitched Kerry Wood and Jim Edmonds hit his second homer of day as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 to split their day-night doubleheader Tuesday night.

Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer in the 15th inning to give the Cubs a 4-2 win in the four-hour, 47-minute opener.

Morris (9-4) allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings. He got his first win since June 25 and ran his career record against the Cubs to 10-2, including 3-0 this season.

Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

Cubs reliever Antonio Alfonseca and left fielder Moises Alou were ejected in the eighth inning after an angry confrontation with third-base umpire Justin Klemm. In the bottom of the seventh, Klemm had called Alou's bases-loaded drive down the line just foul.

As the Cubs took the field in the eighth, Alfonseca charged out of the bullpen area along the left-field line and screamed at Klemm and then so did Alou, who had to be restrained by teammate Kenny Lofton.

Edmonds, who also homered in the opener, led off the second with his 36th of the season. He left in the eighth with a bruised right knee.

The Cardinals added a run in the seventh when Cubs third baseman Ramon Martinez made a double error on Morris' easy bouncer, missing the grounder and then picking up the ball and throwing it past third as Tino Martinez scored.

The Cubs loaded the bases in the seventh on a walk, a single by Kenny Lofton and hit batsman before Alou flied out after his liner was just foul.

The Cardinals restored their lead over the Cubs in the tight NL Central to 1 1/2 games. Houston, which was tied with St. Louis at the start of play Tuesday, faced the Dodgers on the West Coast.

Sosa didn't play the second game after giving the Cubs a dramatic win in the first one.

"My goodness. I think it was one of the longest games we've played," Sosa said after hitting his 32nd homer. It was his ninth career game-winning homer, seven with the Cubs.

"After you play 15 innings, I don't think you have any energy left. But that was a big one for the team. We played so hard to be where we are."

Augie Ojeda, recalled from the minors Monday, was 0-for-21 with the Cubs this season when he singled to left off Jeff Fassero (1-7) to start the bottom of the 15th.

One out later, Sosa connected on an 0-2 pitch.

"That's a heartbreaker," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "There were a lot of heroic moments. We were close to winning a couple of times, but couldn't pull it off. That's a tough loss."

Fernando Vina doubled to lead off the 14th -- the Cardinals' first hit since the seventh -- and moved to third on a fly ball before Mark Guthrie (2-3) retired Mike Matheney on a comebacker to end the threat.

Palmeiro saved the Cardinals in the bottom of the ninth, leaping into the vines in left field to make a spectacular catch of Martinez's two-out drive with the bases loaded.

Jason Simontacchi, who had made 21 relief appearances for the Cardinals since his last start June 3, retired the first 12, striking out six. He left after the Cubs benefited from a controversial call and scored two unearned runs in the fifth to it.

The Cubs got their first baserunner in the fifth when third-base umpire Bill Hohn ruled that left fielder Albert Pujols didn't hold Aramis Ramirez's fly ball.

Replays showed that Pujols squeezed the ball and as he was trying to switch it to his right hand to throw it back to the infield, he dropped the ball. It went for a two-base error.

Hohn said it wasn't a routine play and that the ball dropped out of Pujols' glove, not his barehand, so it wasn't a catch. Simontacchi didn't agree.

"No doubt about it, he caught the ball," Simontacchi said. "It was a bad call, but at the same time I still have to get us out of the inning and I didn't do that."

La Russa argued to no avail. Two outs later, Alex Gonzalez doubled for the Cubs' first hit, scoring Ramirez and making it 2-1, and then Damian Miller had another double to tie the game.

St. Louis took an early 2-0 lead, scoring in the second on Chris Widger's RBI single off Ramirez's glove at third and on Jim Edmonds' 35th homer leading off the fourth.

Notes: Morris missed a month with a broken hand and Tuesday was his third start since coming off the disabled list. ... It is the second straight season the Cardinals and Cubs played a day-night doubleheader. The Cards won both games last season in the first split twinbill at Wrigley Field since 1931. Tuesday's first game was the makeup of a May 11 game that was called after four innings. ... Announced attendance for the opener was 31,990; for the nightcap it was 39,290.

. Replays showed that Pujols squeezed the ball and as he was trying to switch it to his right hand to throw it back to the infield, he dropped the ball.

After the game, Hohn said it wasn't a routine play and that the ball dropped out of Pujols' glove, not his barehand, so it wasn't a catch. Simontacchi didn't agree.

"No doubt about it, he caught the ball," Simontacchi said. "It was a bad call, but at the same time I still have to get us out of the inning and I didn't do that."

La Russa argued to no avail, and it turned into a pivotal call. Two outs later, Alex Gonzalez doubled for the Cubs' first hit, scoring Ramirez and making it 2-1, and then Damian Miller had another double to tie the game.

St. Louis took an early 2-0 lead, scoring in the second on Chris Widger's RBI single off Ramirez's glove at third and on Jim Edmonds' 35th homer leading off the fourth.

Notes: Edmonds' homer was just the seventh Carlos Zambrano allowed this season. ... St. Louis finished with just five hits. ... It is the second straight season the Cardinals and Cubs played a day-night doubleheader. The Cards won both games last season in the first split twinbill at Wrigley Field since 1931. Tuesday's first game was the makeup of a May 11 game that was called after four innings. ... The teams have spent plenty of time at Wrigley the last two days. Not only did Tuesday's first game last 4 hours, 47 minutes, they waited out a 4:17 rain delay before playing Monday's opener. ... Chicago's bullpen pitched eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball. ... It was the third longest game in innings played for the Cubs. They have also been in 17- and 16-inning games. The Cardinals played a 20-inning game in April.