Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse picked up his 15th win and has the best winning percentage among NL starters, as he went seven shutout innings and hit an RBI double in the Cards 4-1 win over the Astros. Lohse also matched a career high in wins. Jon Jay added two hits and two RBIs as Houston picked up their 100th loss of the season. Milwaukee stayed 2.5 back of the Cardinals after they beat Pittsburgh. The Dodgers and Phillies has their games postponed out east.
Manager Mike Matheny thinks Lohse’s name should be in the Cy Young Award conversation. While he’s one of 12 NL pitchers to win 15 games this season, Lohse has pitched nine games of at least six innings and allowed no more than two earned runs and yet walked away with a no-decision. Lohse has held opposing hitters to two or fewer earned runs in 23 of his 31 starts. In five of those games, he has not been scored on. His ERA, now down to 2.71, is only 0.04 points below NL-leader R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets.