CINCINNATI -- Matt Morris' spot in St. Louis' postseason rotation probably wasn't in jeopardy, but there was no sense taking chances.

Morris didn't allow an earned run in six innings to snap a personal four-start losing streak, but the Cardinals couldn't hold a one-run lead, allowing the Cincinnati Reds to come from behind for a 6-2 win at Great American Ball Park on Thursday night.

The Reds took the rubber match of the three-game series to deny Morris his first win since Aug. 25. Morris limited the team that leads the National League in runs, home runs and doubles to one hit and one unearned run with three walks and four strikeouts.

"I'll take my chances with that every time out," Morris said. "I was just looking to go out and put the ball where I wanted to and keep the ball on the ground. I made a couple of mistakes, but there were situations I had to work myself out of and use my head."

"Six innings, one run," manager Tony La Russa said. "It wasn't easy. He had a couple of tough pitcher's-break things, and he pitched around them, which is tough to do in this ballpark against that lineup."

Morris had put together a 6.38 ERA over his past four starts, but La Russa said that was misleading.

"Questions like that are always irritating," he said when asked what Morris did differently Thursday night. "He's had a heck of a year. Check his numbers.

"We have a lot of confidence in Matt, with what he's shown this year and what he's done in his career."

Despite his slump, Morris hadn't heard anything about not being part of the postseason rotation, he said.

"I live my life to play in October," he said. "I want to keep continuing on. When it's my turn, I feel confident that I can make my pitches. I know we have other guys who want to pitch, but I want to be the guy."

The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the eighth, which Ryan Freel led off against Brad Thompson with his second double of the game. Felipe Lopez singled off Ray King (4-4) to drive in Freel with the game-tying run. Adam Dunn's single prompted La Russa to replace King with Julian Tavarez.

Lopez later scored the go-ahead run from third on Austin Kearns' grounder to second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. The throw to David Eckstein at second erased baserunner Jason LaRue, but Eckstein's potential inning-ending relay to first base pulled Albert Pujols off the bag.

Edwin Encarnacion broke the game open with a two-run double off Tavarez.

King was the losing pitcher in both games won by the Reds in the series.

"Got nothing to say, man," King said after the game.

"What he's done lately has not been good enough," La Russa said. "One of the neat things about this league is you either do it or you don't. He's working on it and working hard. We're getting closer and closer to October. We've got to try to get him back to where he was most of the time -- which was effective."

Morris' strikeout of pitcher Brandon Claussen to end the third inning was the 979th of his career, tying Jesse Haines for fourth on St. Louis' all-time career strikeout list. Next on the list is Bob Forsch, with 1,079.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Grudzielanek tripled to left-center field with two outs and Yadier Molina followed with a sharp single to left field, his eighth hit in his past 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Reds tied the game in the fourth. Freel led off with a double to left-center field, the only hit allowed by Morris. Lopez followed with a sharp one-hopper to Pujols, whose throw to third trying to get Freel skipped past Abraham Nunez and into the stands for an error, allowing Freel to score.

St. Louis regained the lead in the fifth. Morris walked with two outs, moved to second on Eckstein's soft single to center field and scored on Jim Edmonds' double off the left-field wall.

Despite the loss, the Cardinals still clinched the National League's best record and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs when Atlanta lost Thursday afternoon.

"It's not that big of a deal," Morris said. "We're just trying to take each game right now. We have two weeks or however much time we have left, and we're not going to jump and down over that. We knew it was a goal that was attainable."