Struggling Morris will start first game after All-Star break

ST. LOUIS -- Struggling Cardinals ace Matt Morris will remain in the rotation and pitch in the team's first game after the All-Star break.

Morris allowed six runs, five earned, in five innings of a 9-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday and said afterward he might need a medical checkup for peace of mind. Morris (8-6) has been fighting mechanical problems brought on by shoulder soreness the last month or so, and has given up 38 earned runs in his last 41 innings covering eight starts.

After throwing consecutive shutouts in mid-May he had a 2.26 ERA, and now it's at 4.19. But manager Tony La Russa said Morris' health has not been an issue for some time, and that he'll just have to work his way back into form.

"He's been checked and he had a great bullpen before the last start," La Russa said. "You don't just turn it off and turn it on.

"He just needs to get back in a good groove, just like a hitter."

Morris left his last start confused because he'd felt so good in a bullpen session two days earlier. La Russa said Morris, who won 39 games the last two seasons, looked like his old self in that session.

Then he gave up five runs in the first inning to the light-hitting Dodgers, who rank last in the National League in batting.

"I'm not myself, obviously," Morris said. "Is there sharp pains and is my arm falling apart? No, but obviously there's nothing effective about my pitching right now. There's something wrong."

Morris' velocity has been down sharply from his usual 94 mph fastball during the slump. When he's on top of his game there's a whip action with his wrist at the release, but that's been missing lately.

"I don't feel like I'm that out of whack where I can't throw the ball," he said. "I'm just kind of pushing through. It's not effortless."

But La Russa doesn't seem overly concerned about speed.

"I think when he really wants to pop it, he can pop it," La Russa said. "I don't think velocity is the problem; it's location."

Morris has had midseason slumps before, and he's hoping this is just a longer one. Last year he was thrown into depression by the death of teammate and close friend Darryl Kile.

"I try to figure it out myself," he said. "Is it just a lull that I'm going through and all of a sudden it'll switch over?"

La Russa second-guesses the team's decision to let Morris pitch in Yankee Stadium last month when he was complaining about shoulder soreness. Morris lasted only two-thirds of an inning in that game.

But now the manager is adamant about Morris working through the trouble.

"I definitely believe that Matt's got enough sense not to do anything crazy," La Russa said. "He's a young man with a lot of career left and if he says he feels good, he feels good."

La Russa hasn't announced the rest of his rotation for after the break. Woody Williams is likely to pitch in the All-Star Game and will get his first second-half start on the Sunday or Monday after the break.