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Lohse leads Cardinals into opener at Baltimore

Jun 28, 2011 - 2:56 PM (Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse tries to put his interleague woes behind him this evening when the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles begin a three- game set at Camden Yards.

Lohse, who has a lifetime interleague ledger of 6-14 and a 5.93 ERA, is winless in his four starts overall, but pitched well against Philadelphia his last time out. Lohse absorbed the loss on Wednesday, allowing three runs and seven hits in eight innings, dropping him to 7-4 on the year to go along with a 2.91 ERA.

The 32-year-old right-hander has faced the Orioles five times (four starts) and is 2-1 with a 4.39 ERA.

St. Louis could use a big outing from Lohse tonight, as it enters this series with 12 losses in its last 15 games following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays that culminated with a 5-0 loss on Sunday at Busch Stadium.

"We're not playing all that well," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa following his club's sixth shutout loss of the season. "We have to improve our execution."

The Cards could get back on track tonight, as they face an Orioles team that is five games under .500 and resides in the cellar of the American League East. Baltimore, though, earned a series win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, belting three home runs to win the rubber match, 7-5. Derrek Lee blasted a three-run homer, while Mark Reynolds and Luke Scott added solo shots for the Orioles, who had lost three of their previous four games.

Jeremy Guthrie (3-9) worked 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win for Baltimore, giving up four runs on six hits while fanning five and walking four.

Getting the call for the O's tonight will be rookie left-hander Zach Britton, who has lost four of his last five decisions. Britton's most recent setback came on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, as he allowed five runs (three earned) and seven hits in six innings, dropping him to 6-5 on the year, while raising his ERA to 3.19.

Britton has never faced the Cardinals, but has lost both of his interleague assignments.

"I think it's nice to see what the National League is all about," Britton said. "It's a little bit different game obviously ... So it's a fun game that way. You appreciate how tough our division is. When you're not playing the Yankees or Boston, you have these NL team and it opens to your eyes to, 'Hey, we're in a really, really good division.'"