CINCINNATI • It was a strange day in Cincinnati, with the drama escalating many hours before the first pitch or temper fit could be thrown.

On Monday afternoon, the Reds made another deal, adding yet another former Cardinals biggie, Jim Edmonds, to assist their push for first place in the NL Central. And before batting practice, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips went off on the Cardinals in a bizarre tangent of hate speech.

But by the end of Monday night, the Cardinals had reacted to the Reds' latest trade and tirade in the manner of a franchise that knows what it's like to win.

The Cardinals virtually shot out the lights at Great American Ball Park during an outrageous seven-run, eight-hit fourth inning, clearing the way to a 7-3 victory before a non-sellout crowd of 36,353.

Chris Carpenter went seven bullish innings to continue his remarkable domination of the Reds, beating Cincinnati for a ninth consecutive start.

And the Cardinals got a blast from an unexpected source, with second baseman Skip Schumaker indirectly answering the Phillips' word slam with a grand-slam home run.

Let's start from the beginning. First, Reds general manager Walt Jocketty dropped a buzz bomb into the proceedings by acquiring the old center fielder Edmonds, 40, from Milwaukee. Jocketty worked closely with one of his best friends in baseball, Brewers GM Doug Melvin to complete the transaction in time for Edmonds to reach Cincinnati to play in the series opener against the Cardinals.

Loosely translated: take that, John Mozeliak.

Edmonds should definitely help the Reds; there's a lot of life in his bat and just enough shock absorber left in his legs.

And if Jimmy Baseball comes through, there's no telling what Jocketty will do next. Will Clark and Larry Walker are out there, somewhere, and you never know when reliever Cal Eldred will get a call from the 513 area code.

That newsmaker of a trade was trumped (almost) by a lot of tough talk from Phillips. He picked the first day of the series to foam at the mouth, expressing his contempt for the visitors.

In comments posted online by Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Phillips said:

"I'd play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they're little bitches, all of 'em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear - I hate the Cardinals."

Yeah, that's how true professionals get ready for an important series: by going all knucklehead and embarrassing themselves and their franchise.

Cincinnati's big mouth proceeded to back up his attention-seeking diatribe by going 0 for 5.

The game ended with a Phillips strikeout as the Cardinals cut the Reds' lead to a game in the National League Central.

You know, Brandon, sometimes life is just a female canine. There's nothing you can do.

Also, dogs can bite. They can do a lot of damage, like tearing your place up for a 7-0 lead. And if you aren't paying attention, you'll step right into their mess. And that's what Phillips did Monday night. Make sure to clean those cleats.

I'm guessing Phillips really hated seeing Schumaker hit the grand slam, a massive hit that wasn't very Cubs-like.

Schumaker hit it so far, into the Reds' bullpen, that none of the Cardinals could go fetch it.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa loves dogs, so I didn't think he'd object to Phillips' insults. I thought maybe Don Tony would take this as a compliment. I was wrong. La Russa pushed the dog dish back in Phillips' direction.

"I don't think that will go over well in his clubhouse," La Russa said. "Phillips is ripping his teammates. (Scott) Rolen, Edmonds, (Miguel) Cairo, (Russ) Springer, all of the ex-Cardinals over there. He isn't talking about this year. He's talking about the way we've always played. And those guys are old Cardinals. Tell him he's ripping his own teammates, because they were all Cardinals."

That TLR is clever.

See what he just did there?

Reds rookie pitcher Mike Leake was so disoriented by the Cardinals' bludgeoning that he tried to walk off the mound with two outs in the seven-run fourth. Not so fast, bub. Leake lasted only 32/3 innings, and the Reds had to tap into their bullpen early. That may have an impact on the final two games of the series.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals had the great silencer standing on the mound for the opener. His name is Carpenter, and, to quote James Brown, papa don't take no mess. It's a good thing Carpenter didn't know about Phillips' woofing, or Phillips would be looking for a new rib cage today.

Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan was an acceptable stand-in. When Ryan was late to take the field before the bottom of the first, Carpenter stared him down, then gave him a lecture in the dugout after the inning.

For a while, it seemed like the only real problem for the Cardinals Monday was the danger of Carpenter taking out one of his own players instead of a Red. I'm surprised Ryan doesn't have to go on the DL with burns after standing so close to the flames shooting out of Carpenter's nostrils.

The Cardinals won the opener, and will now send Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright at the Reds over the next two days to try and win this series and alter the momentum of the NL Central race.

No matter what the outcome over the next 48 hours, the Cardinals sent a little message to the other side in the first night of engagement: this will be a dog fight.