Renteria's Slam Decks Phillies
By Ken Mandel / MLB.com
August 18, 2002
PHILADELPHIA -- Edgar Renteria hit a sixth-inning grand slam as the Cardinals beat the Phillies, 5-1, at Veterans Stadium on Sunday.
Cardinals starter Matt Morris (15-7) went eight innings and allowed one run on eight hits, no walks and struck out six. A winner of three consecutive starts, Morris lost his shutout when Bobby Abreu homered with one out in the eighth. Dave Veres finished up for St. Louis with a scoreless ninth.
Renteria's grand slam capped an inning in which the Cardinals' first five hitters reached off Vicente Padilla (13-7) in the sixth. J.D. Drew led off with a single, and Jim Edmonds rifled a potential double play grounder through the legs of Travis Lee, who was charged with his fourth error.
Albert Pujols laced a single to right to score Drew, and Tino Martinez bounced one past Marlon Anderson to load the bases for Renteria. The shortstop smoked a 1-0 fastball out to right center.
With the win, the Cardinals can do no worse than maintain their four-game lead over the Astros and 5 1/2-game lead over the Reds, who were playing each other. They return to Busch after a 6-1 road trip and have won eight of their past nine games, following an 0-7 stretch.
The Phillies fell to five games under .500 at 59-64. They are off Monday before beginning a six-game road trip through Milwaukee and St. Louis.
Scott Rolen sat out Sunday's game with a tight left shoulder.
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