Brewers and Cardinals resume their regular season feud

Let the hostilities resume.

That was the theme Saturday as the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals took time from preparing for the National League Championship Series to take some verbal shots at each other.

When it was suggested to St. Louis right fielder Lance Berkman that there is a general perception that the Cardinals and Brewers don’t like each other, he bluntly replied, “And that’s correct.”

Right-hander Zack Greinke, who will start Game 1 for the Brewers on Sunday at Miller Park, did nothing to quell the bitterness when asked if the clubs genuinely dislike each other.

“Maybe now,” he said. “I think no one really likes [Chris] Carpenter. Besides that, I think [the Brewers] respect mostly everyone on their team.”

Greinke referred to the Cardinals’ ace, whose 1-0 shutout of Philadelphia in Game 5 of the National League Division Series propelled wild-card St. Louis into the confrontation of NL Central rivals. That comment drew an immediate response from St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa.

“Very disappointed that Greinke would say that,” La Russa said. “I don’t know him a lot, but I always thought he was a high-character, classy guy. That’s a bad comment to make unless you know Chris Carpenter.”

It’s no secret the Cardinals do not like Brewers center fielder Nyjer Morgan, going back to past transgressions when Morgan played for Washington — including a forearm shiver he gave unsuspecting catcher Bryan Anderson in a game last season.

Then, there was the confrontation between Carpenter and Morgan the last time the Brewers and Cardinals met on Sept. 7 in St. Louis. Carpenter struck out Morgan in the ninth inning, cursing him after doing so and then turning his back.

Morgan tossed a wad of chewing tobacco toward Carpenter, prompting Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols to come across the infield to confront him. That action led to the benches and bullpens clearing, but it stopped there.

Pujols refused to be drawn into a discussion about Morgan on Saturday. Carpenter also stayed above the fray, calling the Brewers “a quality group of guys” and insisting that both sides respect each other.

However, Berkman spoke about the lingering tension between the clubs.

“It doesn’t just go away; it’s always under the surface,” Berkman said. “So, we’ll see what happens.”

Morgan referred to a game between the clubs at Miller Park on Aug. 2 in which Brewers reliever Takashi Saito pitched up and in to Pujols, hitting him on the hand. The next inning, the Cardinals had hard-throwing reliever Jason Motte drill Ryan Braun in retaliation.

Also during that series, La Russa in essence accused the Brewers of cheating by complaining to the umpires that the lighting on the ribbon message board was darker when the Cardinals were hitting. There also were accusations that the Brewers were stealing signs, and La Russa called out Milwaukee fans for some tasteless, personal heckling.

“If everybody behaves themselves and we just play baseball, then I think it’ll be fine,” Berkman said. “I’m not planning on doing anything to incite any ill will from the other side, I’ll tell you that.”

Said Morgan: “Obviously, it’s going to be a good series because of what I said and our little history of what happened this year. But it’s just going to be a hard-fought series. It’s a big prize at stake. I don’t think any of this foolishness is going to pour over and get into what both teams are trying to do, and that’s get to the World Series.”

Brewers right fielder Corey Hart had perhaps the best take on the feelings about Morgan and Carpenter.

“With both of those guys, if they’re on your team, you like them. And if they’re on the other team, you probably don’t like them,” Hart said. “Whether you like the guys or not, you respect them.”

sports@latimes.com