The Milwaukee Brewers had moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates but the St. Louis Cardinals were more than able to keep up with them Friday, putting together a dink-and-dunk five-score sixth inning to propel Kyle Lohse past the Colorado Rockies 6-1 in the opening game of their weekend series. The Cardinals had nine hits, paced by two each from David Freese and Albert Pujols, and got doubles from Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman besides.
Lohse, who had been skipped in the rotation for the Brewers series after an ugly post-All-Star Break stretch, looked strong, going six-and-one-thirds innings and allowing just one run to pick up his 10th win. It marked the first time he'd gone six innings in more than a month. Pujols improved to .286 in his improbable run at .300.
The Cardinals will bring two of their top starters to the mound over the weekend. Jaime Garcia gets the Saturday assignment, while midseason acquisition Edwin Jackson looks to close the series out against Esmil Rogers on Sunday night.