• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lohse hopes homer-happy Cards help him end skid

Sep 3, 2008 - 11:58 AM St. Louis (75-64) at Arizona (70-68) 3:40 pm. EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- All-Star Kyle Lohse hopes the St. Louis Cardinals' power surge can help him snap a five-start winless streak on Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

St. Louis, which trails Milwaukee (80-56) by 5 1/2 games in the wild card, has hit seven home runs of the first two games of the series. Troy Glaus hit a two-run homer and Yadier Molina and Felipe Lopez hit back-to-back homers as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid with a 8-2 victory on Tuesday.

Molina and Lopez have homered in two straight games, and Lohse (13-6, 3.89 ERA) would like to benefit from their hot streaks. Lohse is 0-3 with a 4.59 ERA in his last five starts, and has not won since August 1. He is seeking to match his career high of 14 wins set in 2003.

The righthander was stellar in his last outing, allowing two runs and seven hits in eight innings, but did not receive a decision in a 3-2 loss to Houston on Friday. He was pulled after allowing a game-tying two-run homer to David Newhan.

"I felt like I was in control all night," Lohse said. "I happened to make one bad pitch, and it cost us the lead."

Lohse will face a Diamondbacks team that has lost eight of 11 and allowed Los Angeles to hang around in the weak National League West.

"We knew it would be a battle," third baseman Mark Reynolds told the team's official Web site. "We'll see what happens. That's what makes it fun."

Arizona, which holds a 1 1/2 game lead over Los Angeles (69-70) in the NL West, sends Doug Davis (6-8, 4.59) to the hill. The lefthander is seeking a second straight win after limiting the Dodgers to two runs and eight hits in five innings of a 9-3 victory on Friday.