St. Louis ? If the Chicago Cubs were stealing Matt Morris’ signs, it didn’t help.

Morris pitched a four-hitter as St. Louis beat the Cubs and Kerry Wood, 3-0, Monday night in their first game since accusations last week at Wrigley Field.

St. Louis' Fernando Vina, left, scores as Chicago pitcher Kerry Wood covers the plate after a wild pitch in the fourth inning. The Cardinals blanked the Cubs, 3-0, Monday in St. Louis.

“There’s a lot going on this week, a lot of talk,” Morris said. “Everything was blown out of proportion, so I just wanted to lock it in. I knew I had to, with Wood out there.”

In Morris’ previous start, he gave up a home run to Sammy Sosa, prompting the Cardinals to claim the Cubs slugger got help on pitch location from his coaches.

Morris reacted by saying he might throw a pitch in someone’s ear the next time he faced the Cubs. Earlier Monday, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Morris apologized for his comments.

This time, Sosa was held to a single in four at-bats as the Cubs lost their fifth in a row in a game that had no apparent signs of animosity between the teams.

Afterward, Wood ripped his team.

“I’m getting real tired of hearing ‘Keep your head up, we’ll get them tomorrow.’ This ain’t working,” he said.

Morris (6-2) struck out seven, walked two and retired 20 of the 21 batters in one stretch. The Cardinals won for the fourth time in five games.

Last week he held the Cubs to four hits in eight innings and got the win in a 3-2 victory. This was his third career shutout.

“Every time out, he leaves you just a little crack or opening and then he pitches out of it,” Cubs manager Don Baylor said. “He’s been sensational against us.”

Tino Martinez hit his third homer, and first in 33 at-bats since May 1, in the sixth. Martinez, who had 34 homers for the Yankees last year, lined a first-pitch fastball from Wood (4-3) over the right-field wall after Jim Edmonds drew a two-out walk.

“I think about hitting the ball hard, wherever it’s pitched,” said Martinez, who’s batting .205. “Fortunately, it went out of the park.”

It was the first home run allowed in 49 innings this season by Wood.

Astros 17, Phillies 3

Houston Geoff Blum had three doubles and a career-high five RBIs as Houston set season highs for runs and hits in routing Philadelphia. The Astros finished with 20 hits, but no home runs. They scored eight times in the eighth inning, prompting Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa to bring in third baseman Tomas Perez to pitch with two outs. Tim Redding (2-2) pitched seven strong innings and hit a two-run single, Julio Lugo had a two-run triple and Richard Hidalgo added a two-run double for the Astros, who had their most hits since getting 20 against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 8, 2000. Brandon Duckworth (2-3) took the loss.

Reds 5, Brewers 0

Milwaukee Jose Rijo, pitching on his 37th birthday, threw five scoreless innings and rookie Austin Kearns homered and drove in three runs. Rijo (3-1) limited the Brewers to three hits, walking four and striking out one.

D’backs 11, Pirates 0

Pittsburgh Curt Schilling pitched seven shutout innings to become the majors’ first eight-game winner, and Luis Gonzalez drove in four runs as Arizona ruined Kris Benson’s return to the mound. The Diamondbacks hit just about everything Benson (0-1) threw up in his long-awaited but short-lived initial start since missing last season for reconstructive elbow surgery. Benson was on a 95-pitch limit, but fell 20 pitches short after yielding nine runs, seven earned, on 10 hits in 32/3 innings.

Rockies 7, Marlins 3

Denver Denny Stark (1-0) came up from the minors to pitch six shutout innings in his Colorado debut, and pinch-hitter Greg Norton had a grand slam. The Rockies won their seventh straight at Coors Field, where they are using baseballs stored in a humidor in an effort to prevent them from flying so far in the thin air. The Marlins lost slugger Cliff Floyd with a bruised right knee after he crashed into the barrier down the right-field line while chasing a flyball in the fourth.