PITTSBURGH - Lloyd McClendon took exception to Tony La Russa yelling at one of his pitchers.

"I'm not going to let anybody holler at my players," the Pirates manager said. "I don't apologize for anything I do between the lines."

Both managers were ejected with two outs in the top of the ninth inning in St. Louis' 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh after Pirates reliever Mike Gonzalez sent Tony Womack to the dirt with a high, inside pitch.

Before Gonzalez's next pitch, La Russa yelled at him. That prompted McClendon to storm out of his team's dugout and head toward the Cardinals dugout to confront La Russa.

Plate umpire Brian Gorman and first-base umpire Dale Scott tried to restrain McClendon, who forged ahead.

La Russa came onto the field, and the umpires stood between the managers as they exchanged heated words along the first-base line near the Cardinals dugout.

"(McClendon's) right, you shouldn't yell at other teams players," La Russa said. "I mean, I don't like to do it, but when it gets to be excessive - that ball up in the head area - it's better to yell than for us to come back and throw at somebody's head."

The benches and bullpens emptied, and there was physical contact but no players were ejected.

La Russa criticized the Pirates' Ryan Vogelsong two nights earlier after Vogelsong hit Scott Rolen in the head with a pitch. Rolen later said he didn't believe the pitch was intentional.

Gonzalez, a rookie left-hander, said he wasn't trying to hit Womack in a two-run game

"They were trying to intimidate me (from the dugout)," Gonzalez said. "But I pitch inside, and Im going to continue to pitch inside."

Womack wasn't pleased.

"I dont know what he was thinking, but I don't play around the head," Womack said.

La Russa: "You can't read any minds, but it's very suspicious," La Russa said.

McClendon said he doesn't fear a suspension even though he had physical contact with the umpires.

"I didn't push an umpire," McClendon said.

When asked if he put his hands on any of the umpires, the Pirates manager responded: "In a very kind way."

Television cameras caught McClendon in the runway to the dugout, waving La Russa toward him as if he wanted to continue the argument.

McClendon said he would quickly forget the incident, planned to speak with La Russa and labeled him "a quality individual."

Rolen, who missed Wednesday's game with a mild concussion, had three hits and two RBI, raising his league-leading total to 55.

Woody Williams (3-5) pitched six scoreless innings as the Cardinals swept the four-game series, and improved to 19-9 on the road, best in the National League.

Jason Isringhausen got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances.

The Pirates lost their fifth in a row, and dropped to an NL-worst 9-18 at home.

Williams and Pirates starter Oliver Perez (3-3) waged a scoreless duel through five before the Cardinals scored twice in the sixth.

After Edgar Renteria's two-out double, Perez hit Albert Pujols with an 0-2 pitch. Rolen followed with a two-run double.

Woody Williams added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, scoring catcher Yadier Molina, who had an eventful major league debut.

Molina, younger brother of Anaheim Angels catchers Benjie and Jose Molina, tagged out Abraham Nunez on a collision in the second, had two hits and threw out Jack Wilson attempting to steal in the eighth.

Williams gave up six hits, struck out six and walked two in six-plus innings.

In the first, Pirates catcher Jason Kendall extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single. It's the second-longest streak in the NL this season. Arizona's Danny Bautista hit safely in 21 straight games in April.

Perez gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two in seven innings.

Reggie Sanders hit an RBI double in the eighth to make it 4-0.

The Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on Rob Mackowiak's sacrifice fly and Womack's fielding error at second base. Isringhausen struck out Nunez to end the inning.