St. Louis ? Matt Morris returned to the mound for St. Louis and received help from his two new teammates.

Sterling Hitchcock won in his St. Louis debut Saturday, pitching a scoreless inning in relief of Morris as the Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time in eight meetings, 5-3.

“It was great to have some fresh arms,” La Russa said. “We needed that.”

Hitchcock, who was acquired Friday from the New York Yankees in exchange for two minor leaguers, took over for Morris, who was making his first start since July 21, to start the sixth with the Cardinals trailing 1-0. He allowed a hit to Bobby Abreu to start the inning, but escaped unscathed. St. Louis then scored five times in the bottom half to take control.

“When I played in San Diego and I came here I knew this would be a great place to play,” said Hitchcock, who played for the Padres from 1997 to July 2001.

Mike DeJean also made his first appearance since coming to St. Louis from Milwaukee Friday. He pitched a scoreless seventh, but allowed two runs on two hits in the eighth on RBI singles by Jim Thome and Chase Utley.

Morris allowed a run and six hits in five innings in his first game since being hit by a line drive by San Diego’s Mark Kotsay and breaking his hand.

“It felt good to get out there and compete again,” Morris said.

Jim Edmonds went 4-for-4 and Jason Isringhausen worked out of a one-out bases-loaded jam for the Cardinals.

Isringhausen then pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.

“That didn’t bother me,” Isringhausen said of pitching the eighth.

Reds 3, Astros 1

Houston — Paul Wilson beat Houston for the second time in a week and Juan Castro hit a two-run double as Cincinnati defeated the Astros. The Reds won for the second straight day at Minute Maid Park and have taken four of their last five against Houston. The Astros lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Wilson (8-10), who had won only two of his previous eight decisions, didn’t allow a runner to reach third base until the seventh inning.

D’backs 13, Cubs 2

Phoenix — Danny Bautista and Robby Hammock each matched a career high with four RBIs as Arizona routed Chicago. The Diamondbacks closed within 21/2 games of Philadelphia for the National League wild-card berth with the win, their fourth in seven contests. Cubs center fielder Kenny Lofton made his first error in 265 games, ending the longest errorless streak in the majors among outfielders. His last error came Sept. 2, 2001, when he was with Cleveland.

Padres 1, Expos 0 (10)

San Diego — Rocky Biddle walked Mark Kotsay with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to give San Diego a win over Montreal. Biddle (4-7) relieved starter Javier Vazquez to start the 10th inning and retired the first two batters before loading the bases for Kotsay. Biddle threw three straight balls before getting a strike and then missed on a fastball, scoring pinch-runner Brian Buchanan with the winning run.

Mets 4, Dodgers 0

Los Angeles — Steve Trachsel and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, and rookie Jose Reyes homered as New York beat Los Angeles.

Braves 5, Rockies 4

Denver — Mike Hampton won in his return to Coors Field, earning his ninth straight victory as Atlanta defeated Colorado. Gary Sheffield had a three-run double, Andruw Jones hit his 31st homer and Javy Lopez had three hits.

Brewers 7, Pirates 6

Milwaukee — Royce Clayton hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh for its season-high fifth straight win. With runners on first and second and Pittsburgh’s outfield playing shallow, Clayton lifted a long fly off Mark Corey (0-1) that bounced off Brian Giles’ outstretched glove and allowed Mark Smith to score from second.

Giants 3, Marlins 2

San Francisco — Neifi Perez doubled home Yorvit Torrealba with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as San Francisco won its fifth straight game with a patchwork lineup. The teams and fans at Pacific Bell Park observed a moment of silence before the game for Bobby Bonds, the former San Francisco player who died of cancer earlier in the day. His son, Barry, will be away from the Giants indefinitely.