Lohse pitches 8 strong innings as Cards win 5-0 again

Kyle Lohse dominated Kansas City’s lineup, pitching 8 innings of shutout ball – allowing just four hits and striking out 6. St. Louis struck again early, with Nick Stavinoha driving in two runs. Skip Schumaker hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, in the 3rd off of Royals starter Luke Hochevar. The Cards had the bases loaded in the 8th but managed to get just one run.

Right now, the starters for St. Louis are making a complete turn-around from last week. Last week at this time, the starters were going no more than 6 innings and really struggling. In the I-70 series, Todd Wellemeyer and Kyle Lohse have gone for a combined 14 innings, allowing just 8 hits and striking out 9. The more important part – neither have allowed runs. Tomorrow’s starter, Joel Pineiro, pitched a complete game three-hitter against the Cubs last Tuesday – so maybe the fact that the starters are pitching really well plus Pineiro’s last game will be a good sign.

If Minnesota manages to beat Milwaukee again tonight, the Brewers and Cards will be tied for the NL Central lead. Milwaukee and St. Louis play a three game series starting on Monday.

The Cards have now won 5 straight games and are going for the sweep tomorrow, with KC’s Brian Bannister (3-1, 2.75 ERA) taking on Pineiro (5-3, 3.48).

View STLCardinals8's Profile      Subscribe via RSS