Pirates hand Morris first loss of year

Pittsburgh ends St. Louis' hex with an 11-7 victory.

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- At last, the Pittsburgh Pirates got to shake hands after a game with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Matt Morris lost for the first time since Game 2 of the World Series, getting knocked out in the fourth inning as the Pirates beat St. Louis 11-7 Thursday night to end their 12-game losing streak against the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said he wasn't aware of the streak, nor was he concerned about stopping it.

"Guys, I'll tell you and I'm serious, I didn't know it was 12 games until somebody brought it up," McClendon said. "This is the life we live. You have to have the mentality that when it's over, it's over. You get ready for the next one.

"The only thing I was concerned about was tonight."

Dave Williams (6-5), backed by a 5-1 lead in the third, allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in six innings. He had been 0-2 against St. Louis this season.

"They've been kicking us around you know," Williams said. "To come into their place and playing the team leading the division, you want to make up some ground. It definitely feels good."

Tike Redman and Jose Castillo each had three hits for the Pirates, who had not beaten the Cardinals since last Aug. 19.

"Every game is a big win for us," Redman said. "Every day, we have to take it day by day. We got to play them three more times. We won this one but we've got to play them again tomorrow."

Pittsburgh, which had lost eight of its previous 10 games overall, took an 11-2 lead before the Cardinals closed.

Rick White relieved with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth. He allowed a sacrifice fly to Albert Pujols before retiring Reggie Sanders on a game-ending flyout for his second save in three chances.

"It was just one of those days where the other team beat us to the punch all night long," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Better pitching, better hitting, better fielding, they just outplayed us."

St. Louis, which has lost three straight for the second time this season, made three errors, its highest total since a five-error game May 22 in a 9-2 loss to Kansas City.

Morris (8-1), unbeaten in 12 previous starts this season, was chased after two batters in the fourth inning, his shortest outing since he got six outs at San Diego on Sept. 8. He allowed six runs -- just three earned -- and seven hits.

I threw a lot of pitches in three innings, 87 pitches," Morris said. "It's not a good day to do that; it's never a good day to do that. I was falling behind, not executing pitches and I put us in a big hole. I made some mistakes when I got ahead and I didn't finish them off."

Morris had won five consecutive decisions against the Pirates since June 2, 2002. He followed poor outings by Jason Marquis and Mark Mulder. In the three games, the trio combined to give up 23 runs (16 earned) and 26 hits in 9 1-3 innings.

"I think more than anything it was just an off night for Matt," McClendon said. "You don't see that very often from him. I think we caught a break. He just didn't have his best stuff."

Pujols' 19th homer put St. Louis ahead in the first, but Williams hit an RBI grounder in the second and the Pirates scored four runs in the third.

Daryle Ward had a go-ahead single off the right-field wall, Humberto Cota hit a sacrifice fly and Jack Wilson's line drive to left grazed of the glove of a leaping Sanders for a two-base error.

Cota added an RBI single in the fourth off Cal Eldred for a 6-1 lead.

Yadier Molina had a run-scoring double in the fifth, but the Pirates made it 11-2 in the sixth against Randy Flores. Rob Mackowiak hit a liner that Flores knocked down and threw to the backstop for a two-run error. Ward and Cota hit sacrifice flies, and Castillo hit a solo homer.

Notes: Plate umpire Rick Reed left the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after he was struck in the head by a foul ball. Reed complained of dizziness and headaches and was sent to a hospital for observation. The game was delayed for 10 minutes while Ted Barrett, who was at second base, put on gear and moved behind the plate.