ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- By the time the St. Louis Cardinals got into the game, they nearly were out of it.

Barry Bonds' two-run triple highlighted a four-run second inning as the San Francisco Giants jumped on Matt Morris early and posted a 9-6 triumph over the Cardinals in Game One of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

After St. Louis seemed to sleepwalk through four innings, an inside pitch from Cardinals reliever Mike Crudale to Kenny Lofton seemed to energize the home team and its fans.

Lofton, who had homered in the third, was buzzed by a tight fastball from Crudale and exchanged words with catcher Mike Matheny. The benches emptied and managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa had a heated discussion.

"I didn't overreact," Lofton said. "First pitch after the guy hits a home run and the next time they throw inside, you look at that. ... I think when people are upset, they do things out of the ordinary and, you know, we were kicking their butts at the time and they just had to do something to try to upset me or (tick) me off."

"I didn't think he overreacted at all," Baker added. "What are you going to do when a guy throws the ball up around your head?"

Matheny said it was just a matter of strategy.

"We've got to pitch inside, we're going to pitch inside all series long," he explained. "I guess he thought that was a little too close, and he has that freedom to respond however he wants to."

But the emotion came too late for the Cardinals, who trailed 5-0 and 7-1. Morris, St. Louis' unquestioned ace, was the reason for the early deficit, getting hammered for seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

After besting likely Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson in Game One of the Division Series with Arizona, Morris (1-1) was utterly ineffective, walking four and surrendering a pair of home runs.

"He wasn't sharp," La Russa said. "Location. His stuff was good, he just made a lot of location mistakes, and they are a good club and made him pay."

"My ball was just up," Morris said. "Everything, every pitch that was hit was up in the zone, over the plate. I mean, some pitches that should be hit. ... The bottom line, I put our team in a bad hole."

Giants starter Kirk Rueter (1-1) wasn't sharp, either, allowing five runs and nine hits in five innings. He also served up two home runs but was backed by a stellar effort from his bullpen.

Felix Rodriguez allowed a hit over two scoreless innings and Tim Worrell surrendered a two-out solo homer in the eighth. With the Giants holding a three-run lead, Baker turned to closer Robb Nen, who worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to notch his third save of the postseason.

"They've got a great lineup," Rueter said. "I'm just glad our guys jumped out early. I probably fell into a little bit of a trap where I didn't want to walk guys when we've got a big lead. I don't know if this is a very good team to keep throwing strikes to and just letting them hit it. They hit a couple balls out, but we had a big enough lead and the bullpen came in and did a great job."

Coming off his first postseason series win, Bonds contributed to a big night by the middle of the San Francisco order, going 1-for-2 with three walks, two runs scored and two RBI. Jeff Kent, Bonds and Benito Santiago combined for six hits, six RBI and four runs scored.

Game Two is Thursday, with the Cardinals giving the ball to injury-plagued righthander Woody Williams, who did not pitch in the NL Division Series. He will be opposed by Jason Schmidt.

"We are up 1-0," Baker said. "We still have potentially six games to go and hopefully, we can get to four before they get to four."

The last nine teams that have won Game One of the NLCS have gone on to the World Series.

"It doesn't mean anything to me, actually," Baker said. "I mean, I've been on some World Series teams that won the first two games and ended up losing four in a row. So you've got to win one before you can win two, and then you win two and then three and then four. You've got to take them one win at a time, just like a countdown to the finish line. We haven't won anything yet."

The Giants got on Morris from the start. Lofton opened the contest with a walk and was bunted over. After a groundout by Kent, Morris pitched around Bonds, but the strategy backfired when Santiago beat out a squib down the third base line for a 1-0 lead.

"I just swung on top of the ball," Santiago said. "And anything you can do to get the RBI in, that's a plus."

The Cardinals had a chance to answer in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with two outs. But Tino Martinez, who went 0-for-11 in the Division Series, flied out to center. Martinez was 1-for-4 and left five runners on.

"If Tino has the uniform on, then he's one of our keys," La Russa said. "That comment is going to be the same for Fernando (Vina). ... Whoever plays for us, they are keys. There's no extra pressure on Tino."

"This team has bounced back from losses all year," Martinez said. "We never let one loss affect another one. These guys know it's one game at a time and we'll come back tomorrow and play a good game."

Morris appeared to regain his form in the second, striking out the first two batters. But Lofton singled and stole second and Rich Aurilia singled for a 2-0 lead. Kent followed with a base hit up the middle and Bonds hit a line drive to the right-center field gap that went for a triple when center fielder Jim Edmonds fell.

Santiago followed Bonds' triple with a single to right.

St. Louis got on the board in the bottom of the second, drawing within 5-1 on an RBI groundout by Vina.

Lofton homered to right with two outs in the third and admired it a bit in the batter's box. He is 9-for-24 with eight runs scored this postseason.

"Kenny is a big-time player, big-game player," Baker said. "He's been in the playoffs many, many times and he thrives on being that catalyst. That's why we got Kenny when he did. We got him as soon as possible. Kenny has been great for us, both offensively and defensively."

Morris escaped a jam in the fourth but allowed a homer to David Bell in the fifth. Crudale came on and retired Rueter before firing a pitch up and in to Lofton, who took umbrage.

After peace was restored and the crowd got back in the game, St. Louis got to Rueter for a pair of runs in the fifth as Edmonds doubled with two outs and Albert Pujols lofted a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center field to get the Cardinals within 7-3.

Crudale gave up a costly two-run homer to Santiago in the sixth. The blast proved key when Miguel Cairo, filling in for injured third baseman Scott Rolen, tied a postseason record with his eighth straight hit - a two-run homer to left.