St. Louis Cardinals David Freese breaks his bat as he connects for a RBI single in the seventh inning. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Kyle Lohse picked up his 100th career win Sunday as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 7-4 to take three out of four in the series and keep pace with the Brewers, 10.5 games back. Lohse (12-8) gave up four runs, two earned, all in the first two innings before settling down.
Lohse allowed six hits, struck out four and walked two and became the 36th active pitcher to reach the 100-win mark. He has 106 losses in his nine-year career. After Lohse Lohse gave up four runs and five hits to the first nine batters he faced, he allowed just one hit and one walk in his final three innings.
Matt Holliday, Skip Schumaker and Ryan Theriot each had two hits. Lance Berkman drew three walks, two of them intentional, and scored three times as the team rapped 11 hits on a day when Albert Pujols did not get the start.
Making a strong case to become a future closer, Jason Motte pitched the ninth for the save.