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Slumping Cards wrap up set with Nats as Holliday set to return

Jun 16, 2011 - 2:54 PM (Sports Network) - The Washington Nationals find themselves in position to sweep a three-game series against St. Louis for the first time since 2007, but the return of Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday could prove to be a big obstacle to overcome.

The slugger will try to help end the Cards' longest losing streak of the season and deny the Nats a sixth straight victory in tonight's series finale in Washington.

Holliday is expected to return tonight from a strained left quadriceps he battled for a few weeks before finally landing on the disabled list at the beginning of the month. Though some wonder if the 31-year-old should have been shut down earlier, Holliday has no regrets.

"It's absolutely what I would have done if I had to do it over," he told St. Louis' website. "You always want to play, and you always feel like it could be just a minor thing and play in a couple days. Just kind of go with what you can."

St. Louis could certainly use a healthy Holliday, as it has bookended a season-worst five-game slide with a pair of shutout losses. Last night's setback was the worst of the rut as the Cardinals were blanked, 10-0, by Nationals starter Livan Hernandez, who twirled a three-hitter for his ninth career shutout and 50th career complete game.

"It was vintage Livan. He was hitting his spots, had a good breaking ball, was changing speeds. He had it all going," Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said.

Washington's offense, meanwhile, plated 10 runs for the first time since May 31 and got a pair of homers from Michael Morse. Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth also went deep as Washington won its fifth in a row for the first time since ending the 2009 season on a seven-game winning streak.

Jon Jay had two of St. Louis' three hits and Ryan Theriot had the other as the Cards fell a game back of Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central.

Kyle McClellan, activated from the DL prior to the game, allowed five runs over five innings to take the loss.

"I'm pretty sure every team is going to go through a losing streak of five or six games," McClellan said. "We just have to stop it as soon as we can. No one is panicking."

St. Louis will have no need to panic if Kyle Lohse can duplicate his earlier- season performance against Washington. He looks to rebound after losing for the first time in four decisions on Friday.

The right-hander hurled the sixth shutout of his career on April 21 against the Nats, a two-hitter that improved him to 4-2 with a 4.77 earned run average in 11 career games, including nine starts, versus the club.

"I was able to stay in the moment and not have anything affect us," Lohse said after his outing against Washington.

The moment was a short one for the 32-year-old last time out, however, as he lasted a season-low five innings in Milwaukee on Friday. Lohse allowed four runs for a second straight start as well as five hits and three walks, falling to 7-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 13 starts in 2011.

Lohse has been solid on the road this season, having gone 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA in seven outings.

Streaking left-hander John Lannan is undefeated over his past four starts and aims to extend his hot stretch tonight for the Nats. He is 2-0 over his winning streak, allowing two earned runs in 26 1/3 innings for a 0.68 ERA.

Lannan picked up a victory on Saturday in San Diego, yielding a run on six hits over 6 1/3 innings to move to 4-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 14 starts this season.

"I'm just rolling with it," Lannan said. "The sinker is there, the confidence is there. I just keep on building off each start."

Lannan, who is 2-2 with a 1.70 ERA in six home starts, bested the Cardinals on April 20 after giving up a pair of runs in five innings. The 26-year-old improved to 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA lifetime against St. Louis.

He figures to face a challenge tonight in Holliday, who is hitting .337 against the Nats with 10 homers and 39 RBI in 45 career games.

The Cardinals took two of three from the Nats back in April and have won nine of 15 and 16 of their last 24 against them overall. They haven't been swept by Washington in three games since the Nationals did so in St. Louis from Aug. 3-5, 2007.