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CHICAGO - Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam, Jim Edmonds homered twice and the Cardinals roughed up Mark Prior in a 12-4 victory over the Cubs on Wednesday that showed last year's feud between the Central rivals is not over.
Matt Morris (6-5) gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings, walking four. He also sparked the latest skirmish between the teams when he sent Derrek Lee sprawling in the dirt with a fastball near his head in the fifth. No punches were thrown and no one was ejected, but the game was delayed for about five minutes while umpires restored order.
The Cardinals-Cubs rivalry was particularly nasty last year with managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa getting into a shouting match during a key four-game series the first week of September. On Wednesday, Edmonds finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk. Scott Rolen didn't homer for the first time in three days, but he did have an RBI to add to his major league-high total of 63.
Corey Patterson hit a two-run homer for Chicago and finished 2-for-3 with a walk. But that was small consolation for Cubs fans, who watched Prior (0-1) have a rare bad outing against their rivals.
Prior went 10-1 with a 1.52 ERA after a trip to the disabled list last year, and it looked as if he might do more of the same this season. After spending the first two months of the year on the disabled list, the right-hander was dazzling in his first start Friday, retiring his first 13 batters, allowing two hits and walking none in six scoreless innings against Pittsburgh.
But he wasn't nearly as crisp this time, lasting 32/3 innings and matching a career high with five walks (one intentional). He gave up five runs and five hits.