ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Matt Morris finally solved the Atlanta Braves .

Morris pitched eight strong innings and Edgar Renteria and Jim Edmonds each drove in two runs as the St. Louis Cardinals posted a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves .

Morris (4-3) entered the game with an 0-5 record against Atlanta, the only National League team he had not beaten. Facing a struggling Braves lineup, the righthander allowed a pair of runs and six hits to finally break through.

"I thought I pitched well always against them," Morris said. "(I) was always in the game, but never could get that win so it's nice to get it tonight."

Atlanta starter Mike Hampton (0-4) continued his struggles and remained winless, surrendering four runs and eight hits in six innings. Hampton retired eight of his first 10 hitters before running into trouble with two outs in the third.

Reggie Sanders and Albert Pujols reached on back-to-back infield hits and Scott Rolen walked to load the bases. Renteria came through with a two-run single for a 2-0 lead.

So Taguchi led off the fourth with his first homer and Edmonds added an RBI double, the 300th of his career, with two outs in the fifth for a 4-0 advantage.

"I made some pretty good pitches. I located pretty well and felt good about my stuff." said Hampton, who fell to 10-8 lifetime against St. Louis. "I'll just continue to try to make quality pitches and hope the outcome comes out my way." Eventually my luck is going to change."

Morris was effective from the beginning, allowing only three hits and a walk in the first five innings. His only blemish came in the sixth when after J.D.Drew smashed a 436-foot home run into the stands in right.

"I got a pitch to handle," Drew said. "I think he was trying to go away fastball and ended up leaving it kind of up and in so I was able to put a pretty decent swing on it."

Morris regained his form by retiring nine of the next ten batters before giving way to Jason Isringhausen , who finished up with a scoreless ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.

"That's the key," Morris said. "You give up two runs and you still have the lead at that point. So if I can go out and continue to make pitches I get a win out of it."

"He was pretty locked in right from the get-go," Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny said. "I think overall he made tough pitches when he had to and did a good job of staying in his groove, which is down in the zone."

Edmonds belted his eighth homer, a solo shot off reliever Chris Reitsma , that opened the eighth that made it 5-2.

The loss assured the Braves of losing their fifth straight series. They have not lost five consecutive series since August 9-24, 1988.