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Cardinals' Lohse seeks to solve Cubs

Jul 30, 2011 - 2:38 PM (Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse tries for his first win in more than a month today and to get a rare victory over the Cubs when the Cardinals resume their three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Lohse, who is coming off a no-decision at Pittsburgh last Sunday, is 0-3 over his last four starts. The right-hander, drafted in the 29th round by the Cubs in 1996, has struggled against his former team with a 1-4 record and 6.51 ERA in 11 games.

The way the Cardinals have been dominating the Cubs of late, Lohse just may be in line to snap his slide. St. Louis has won the last five meetings, including last night's 9-2 rout.

Albert Pujols recorded his 2,000th career hit and Edwin Jackson claimed a victory in his St. Louis debut.

Pujols came into Friday's game needing two hits to reach 2,000. Pujols got to the milestone with a pair of doubles. He joined Stan Musial (3,630), Lou Brock (2,713), Rogers Hornsby (2,110) and Enos Slaughter (2,064) as the only Cardinals who tallied 2,000 hits while with the franchise.

Jackson (1-0) tossed seven strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits to pick up the victory. He struck out four and walked two.

Wednesday was a crazy day for Jackson, who was first shipped from the White Sox to the Blue Jays. Toronto then flipped him hours later along with outfielder Corey Patterson and pitchers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel to the Cardinals for outfielder Colby Rasmus and pitchers P.J. Walters, Brian Tallet and Trever Miller.

The 27-year-old Jackson knows what its like to be traded before the trade deadline. Last year, the Diamondbacks dealt him to the White Sox.

"It's more important for the team to get a win than myself," Jackson said. "We needed that game."

David Freese hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, who snapped a brief two- game skid. Ryan Theriot went 2-for-2 with three RBI and a run scored.

Chicago starter Matt Garza (4-8) allowed six runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings to suffer the loss.

"We haven't given [Garza] run support, and it's been so difficult for us to score runs, especially lately, that it's tough," Cubs manager Mike Quade said. "He threw the ball well enough to win a game if you could score a run for him."

Chicago's Rodrigo Lopez makes his sixth start of the season in his 16th appearance. The right-hander has won his last two decisions. On July 18, he limited the Phillies to one run over 6 2/3 innings.

He's 2-3 with a 5.63 ERA in seven games (5 starts) against the Cardinals.