Morris gets his first win vs. Braves

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Morris used to throw in the mid-90s. Now, he confuses hitters with his off-speed stuff.

Morris pitched eight solid innings, helping the St. Louis Cardinals win their third straight with a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

"I'm just trying to mix it up," Morris said. "I'm not thinking about striking guys out much."

So Taguchi and Jim Edmonds homered, and Edgar Renteria had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals. St. Louis won the opener 5-1, and has won three in a row for the first time since April 20-22, when they swept the Astros in Houston, which is also the last time they were two games above .500.

"When we're only two over .500, I don't think we're clicking," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We need to get 10 games over .500 to have that first click."

Morris (4-3) kept the Braves off-balance with an assortment of mostly off-speed pitches, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He beat the Braves for the first time in eight career starts after entering 0-5 with a 3.44 ERA against them.

"I just saw that today," Morris said. "I knew I hadn't had many wins, but I didn't know I didn't have any. I thought I pitched well always against them and was always in the game but was never able to get that win, so it's nice to get it tonight."

Jason Isringhausen worked the ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.