Morris adds big finish to offense's fast start

ST. LOUIS -- Bo Hart was a lightly regarded minor leaguer in his own organization a week ago. Now he's playing like an All-Star.

Hart hit a leadoff homer and went 3-for-5, raising his average to .500 in six games, helping starter Matt Morris and the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-6 Wednesday night.

Hart is 15-for-30 as the replacement for injured second basemen Fernando Vina and Miguel Cairo.

"There may have been one hit in there that wasn't important," manager Tony La Russa said. "But the other 14 have really been game-type situations."

Hart, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen homered in the first as the Cardinals connected early against Paul Wilson (5-5). He started a few hours after drawing a five-game suspension for his actions in a brawl against the Cubs last week, a penalty that is set to begin today.

Wilson said he likely would appeal the suspension.

"I'm going to talk to my agents but I'll probably appeal," Wilson said. "I'm going to see what my options are."

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 476th career homer, passing Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 21st place. Griffey's three-run shot in the Reds first was his first homer in 92 at-bats, and his eighth of the year overall.

Morris (8-5) won for the first time in four starts despite his continuing struggles. He lasted six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits.

Morris has surrendered 28 runs in his last 31 innings over six starts since throwing consecutive shutouts in mid-May.

"I'm still a little off my game mentally," Morris said. "Not only am I not executing well as far as location and hitting my spots, I'm not thinking right, either."

Hart has five multihit games in six games since being called up from the minors.

"It's unexplainable," Hart said. "I'm just trying to hit the ball hard and hit good pitches, hit strikes. Hopefully, I'll continue to have that mindset."

Albert Pujols had a two-run double as the Cardinals beat the Reds for only the second time in nine games this season. Pujols leads the major leagues with a .387 average.

Sean Casey was 3-for-5 for the Reds, making him 12-for-22 in the last five games. Casey batted leadoff for only the second time all season.

Bob Boone "changes the lineup every day, and you've just got to be prepared to hit anywhere," Casey said. "I'll just do what I can to help us win."

Morris was behind 3-0 before he got his first out, giving up a leadoff double to Casey and walking Barry Larkin before Griffey's homer.

The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the first on Hart's leadoff homer, and two-out shots from Edmonds and Rolen. St. Louis added four runs in the second on Pujols' two-run double, an RBI double by Edmonds and a run-scoring single by Orlando Palmeiro to make it 7-3.

Aaron Boone had an RBI double in the third, and Casey had a run-scoring single in the fourth off Morris. Singles by Casey and Larkin and a run-scoring groundout by Griffey off Lance Painter cut the gap to a run in the seventh.

Cal Eldred retired four in a row to get to the ninth and Jason Isringhausen finished for his second save in two chances, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

"It's exactly what we need," La Russa said. "Now we'll just see how often he can pitch."

Noteworthy

Reds pinch-hitter Jose Guillen was ejected in the ninth for arguing a called third strike. ... Hart is the sixth player in Cardinals history to hit a leadoff homer for his first career homer. The last was Curt Ford in 1986. ... Austin Kearns was hitless in four at-bats and is in a 2-for-26 slump. ... Pujols is 4-for-9 against Wilson with two homers. ... Morris, who had lost his last two outings, has never lost three in a row as a starter. He lost three straight as a reliever over a two-month period in 2000 when he was recuperating from reconstructive elbow surgery, however. ... Boone used a Reds starter in relief for the second straight day with Ryan Dempster getting the last two outs in the eighth. But Boone said that should not affect Dempster's scheduled start on Friday or Saturday, calling the outing a "glorified sideline" throw.