CHICAGO -- On a night when emotions raged and tempers flared, Scott Rolen delivered again for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rolen connected for a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning off fiery Carlos Zambrano and sent them to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.
Zambrano's outing ended one pitch after Rolen's homer when he hit Jim Edmonds for a second time and was ejected.
"He's an emotional guy," Rolen said of Zambrano. "But I don't believe what went on the field tonight outside of baseball deserves any words."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa did have some words to share, though.
"I don't care what the rivalry is, what the circumstance is, what the standings are, you are not allowed to cross the line in this game and their pitcher crossed it twice," LaRussa said.
"It was pretty clear."
The Cardinals homered three times and won for the 12th time in 14 games this month to increase their NL Central lead over the Cubs to nine games.
Zambrano (9-5) hit Edmonds with a pitch in the first to load the bases. Then the young Cubs All-Star became angered when Edmonds homered in the fourth and hesitated before leaving the plate to admire the flight of the ball.
As Edmonds neared home plate, Zambrano began yelling in the direction of the Cardinals' star.
"I just told him to run the bases and don't try to be cocky," Zambrano said.
Seconds later, Cubs catcher Michael Barrett began jawing with someone in the Cardinals' dugout and had to be restrained by home plate umpire Joe Brinkman.
The benches emptied briefly, but order was restored quickly and no punches were thrown.
"I have a job to do and that's to protect my pitcher. And when I was looking over the dugout one of their players asked me what I was looking at," Barrett said, declining to identify the Cardinals player.
"I just got a little irritated by that. ... Unfortunately I didn't react the way I probably could have. I sort of erupted. In the heat of the moment unfortunately those things happen."
Rolen's two-out homer in the eighth broke a 3-all tie. Then Zambrano, who allowed five hits and five runs in his 7 2/3 innings, plunked Edmonds for the second time.
"I didn't try to hit him. I just tried to make my pitch and the ball went out of my hand," Zambrano said.
Earlier, after striking Edmonds out on three pitches in the sixth, Zambrano wagged his finger at Edmonds as he walked away from the plate.
Chris Carpenter (10-4) got his 10th victory and fourth of the season against the Cubs, allowing 12 hits and four runs in eight innings.
Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances.
"It was an emotional game. It began because who we were playing in the series," Carpenter said of the long and heated rivalry between the two teams.
"My job is to go out there and not concern myself with what is going on around me. I was able to do that."
With the game tied at 3, Tony Womack walked to start the eighth and made it to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice. After Albert Pujols fanned, Rolen hit his 20th homer of the season, giving him 86 RBI.
When Zambrano hit Edmonds with the next pitch, Brinkman immediately ejected him.
Sammy Sosa grounded out in the eighth and as he made his way to the dugout stopped at the mound and said something to Carpenter.
What did Sosa say? "Nothing," Carpenter said. Sosa wasn't available for comment.
Moises Alou then hit a homer to bring the Cubs within 5-4.
Edgar Renteria's solo shot put the Cards up 3-0 in the fifth but the Cubs rallied to tie in the bottom of the inning on Mark Grudzielanek's sacrifice fly and a two-run single by Alou.
Cards' right fielder Reggie Sanders threw out Aramis Ramirez at the plate in the sixth after he'd doubled and tried to score on Barrett's bloop single.
Notes
- The Cards now lead the season series 10-8. The teams meet for a final time this season Tuesday.
- The Cards are a major league-best 30-16 on the road.
AP NEWS
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