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Lohse twirls Cards to shutout of Nats

Apr 21, 2011 - 10:44 PM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse was stellar in a two-hit shutout to help the St. Louis Cardinals take the three-game series against the Washington Nationals with a 5-0 win.

Lohse (3-1) walked just two batters and struck out six for the Cardinals, who won the second game of a doubleheader against Washington on Wednesday to break a two-game losing streak.

"His command was really good," St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said. "He goes out there and gives us a chance to win."

Alongside the impressive pitching performance, Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols each had two-run homers.

Jayson Werth and Mike Morse had the only hits for Washington, which has lost two straight since a four-game winning streak. Tom Gorzelanny (0-2) went five innings in the loss, allowing two hits, two runs and four walks.

Despite Gorzelanny's overall solid outing, he dug an early hole for the Nationals that they couldn't overcome.

Holliday made 28-year old lefty pay for pitching around Pujols and lifted a two-run shot over the left field fence during the bottom of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead.

"Not every day you're going to have the best stuff," Gorzelanny said. "You just have to bare down and make a pitch."

The Cardinals maintained the score for the next four innings as Lohse retired the first 11 batters before Werth lined a single into right and he walked Adam LaRoche in the fourth frame. But he got out of the jam by getting Ian Desmond to ground into a force out at second.

Lohse got back on track in the fifth forcing Ivan Rodriguez into a double-play grounder and got Alex Cora to ground out to second to end the frame. He then retired the next seven batters.

"I was able to stay in the moment and not have anything affect us," Lohse said

Meanwhile the Cardinals scored on another two-run homer, this time it was Pujols who blasted the shot into the left field seats in the eighth for a comfortable 4-0 lead. Then David Freese ripped a double into the left-center gap to score Holiday, who drew a walk after the Pujols' home run, to make up the final score.

Lohse hit Danny Espinosa with a pitch to lead off the ninth inning. However, he got the next three batters to fly out to end the game.

Game Notes

Two hits is the fewest allowed in Lohse's career and it's his sixth shutout of his career...Washington and St. Louis split six matchups a year ago...Lohse threw 111 pitches, 72 for strikes...St. Louis only had six hits and was 0- for-6 with runners in scoring position.