Renteria Strikes Again In Cards Win
St. Louis wins seventh straight home game
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
July 06, 2004
ST. LOUIS -- For much of this season, the Cardinals won without a full dose of Edgar Renteria. The All-Star shortstop gave all that he had, but he just wasn't the same.
He's back now, though.
For the second straight game, Renteria drove in the game-winning run, this time smoking a two-run homer in the seventh inning as St. Louis rallied to beat Cincinnati, 5-3, for its fifth victory in a row. It was also the Cards' seventh straight win at Busch Stadium, giving them their longest home winning streak since September of 2001.
That's thanks in no small part to Renteria, who's driven in six runs and scored six in the past five games. For a long time he was the Cardinal that his teammates would choose to have hit in big situations, and he's back to being that threat again.
"He's in the middle of the lineup, in the middle of situations," said Jim Edmonds. "When you get those hits, it's magnified. He's been swinging the bat really well, and he's been hitting a lot of line drives right at people."
Matt Morris (9-6) sorted things out after a rocky second inning, lasting seven for the win. All three Reds runs came in the second on three singles, a double, an intentional walk and a sac fly. It would have been even worse, but Edmonds saved a run when he reached over the center-field wall to bring back Adam Dunn's would-be homer.
"It didn't look like he hit it that good," said Edmonds. "I talked to him, and he said he hit it off the end of the bat. He kind of hit it straight up. I knew he missed it, but the wind was blowing."
Even with the help from Edmonds, Morris struggled to get out of trouble. Dunn's loud out was the first of the inning, and six more Reds came to the plate before it was over. Big innings have been a bugaboo for Morris all season, though he's getting better at overcoming them.
"That was a terrible inning altogether. You get a boost like [Edmonds' catch], you've got one out with Griffey Jr. on first, and you should be able to make pitches and get out of it. [Ryan] Freel hit a curveball in the gap later on with two outs. I let Acevedo get a fastball up in an RBI situation. I could have done better there to limit runs, but I tried to battle here as well as I can."
After the outburst, Morris kept things within reach for his offense. He faced one batter over the minimum for the next five innings, helping himself on defense several times. Morris picked Griffey off first base in the third inning, started a 1-6-3 double play in the fourth and made a sweet stab on Tim Hummel's hot shot in the seventh.
The Cards are making a habit of coming back, and their starters have learned that one rough inning does not ensure doom.
"I really can't take much credit for this one," said Morris. "Jimmy made an outstanding play for the second day in a row. He does it all the time. The offense and defense just battled for me and came through. "
Meanwhile, the Redbirds' batters did what they always seem to do -- chip away. Roger Cedeno got St. Louis on the board with an RBI double off Jose Acevedo in the fourth, and Marlon Anderson's sac fly cut the lead to a single run. Acevedo struck out the side in order in the sixth, but gave way to a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning.
That was all the opportunity the Cards needed, as they took advantage of one of the NL's worst bullpens. Reggie Sanders greeted Gabe White with a pinch-hit double to open the seventh, and Tony Womack's sac bunt moved Sanders to third with one out. Renteria fouled off one pitch from White before ripping the 0-1 offering into the left-field seats to give the Cards the lead.
"I've gotten more confident," said Renteria. "Now I see the ball better. I kept working. I'm still working hard every day. When you work hard, everything comes around."
It was Renteria's first base hit in nine career at-bats against the veteran left-hander, but otherwise the rally wasn't surprising. Cincinnati features the second-worst bullpen ERA in the National League, better than only Colorado's, and the Reds have now blown a league-high 19 saves.
Then again, the Cardinals have gotten to a lot of bullpens lately. And with Renteria getting going, it's probably going to happen more and more.
"When Edgar's swinging the bat well, now he's getting that confidence back," said Sanders. "It only enhances the team even more. For us, it's just a matter of getting those key hits in key situations. That's what we've been doing. Edgar did it tonight. Somebody else is gonna do it tomorrow night."
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