Morris shuts out Dodgers

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Morris had never been this dominant.

Morris pitched a two-hitter and struck out a season-high 11 to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to their seventh straight victory, 3-0 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night in a matchup of division leaders.

"I know it's the best game I've caught with him," catcher Mike Matheny said. "It's amazing, the way he pitched."

Reggie Sanders homered, doubled and had two RBIs. Matheny also homered for the Cardinals, who have won 11 of 13 overall and are a major league best 90-44.

Morris (15-8) won his third straight start and walked none, pitching the low-hit complete game of his career. The only hits he allowed were singles by Jose Lima in the third and Robin Ventura in the fifth.

"Everything he threw was tough," Ventura said. "In baseball you can run into somebody like this. You just admit he was good and keep going."

Morris, who retired the last 14 batters, pitched his second shutout this season and the eighth of his career. He has 16 complete games, including three this season. Previously, his low-hit complete game was a three-hitter against Cincinnati on Sept. 7 last year.

It was the first time he struck out 10 or more since April 5 last year against Houston.

Morris's 4.40 ERA is the highest on the staff, and he endured a recent stretch of six starts that were alternately good and bad. So he wasn't getting too excited about this game.

"Anytime during the season, this is a very encouraging start," Morris said. "We're going to take it one game at a time because I've been pretty inconsistent. I'm going to try to go out there with the same stuff, the same mental approach, and see what happens."

The game lasted 1 hours, 58 minutes, the shortest in more than two years for the Cardinals.