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After claiming a series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates but falling short of a sweep on Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals travel to Texas to take on the Houston Astros in a three-game set for the weekend. On Friday night, the Cards will send Kyle Lohse to the mound in opposition to Astros hurler Lucas Harrell. Over at SB Nation's Cardinals blog, Viva El Birdos, Dan Moore took the time to compare two over-performing veteran starters on St. Louis -- Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse -- and believes that while Lohse could be the better pitcher this year, Westbrook will look more impressive after posting bad numbers last season.
Will Lohse keep up his strong start so far this year against an Astros offense that has been far better than anyone expected? Here's a quick breakdown of Houston's hitters using weighted on-base average via Crawfish Boxes:
| Hitters | wOBA |
| 1) Jed Lowrie | .410 |
| 2) Jose Altuve | .405 |
| 3) J.D. Martinez | .364 |
| 4) Travis Buck | .356 |
| 5) Chris Johnson | .353 |
| 6) Jordan Schafer | .331 |
| 7) Brian Bogusevic | .319 |
| 8) Carlos Lee | .269 |
| 9) Matt Downs | .291 |
| 10) Jason Castro | .284 |
| 11) Justin Maxwell | .276 |
| 12) Marwin Gonzalez | .239 |
| 13) Chris Snyder | .210 |
Starters: Kyle Lohse (4-0, 1.62 ERA) vs. Lucas Harrell (1-2, 4.71 ERA)
Game Date & Time: Friday, May 4, 7:05 p.m. CT
Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
TV: Fox Sports Midwest
Radio: AM 1120 KMOX (click here for full list of affiliates)
For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, head over to Viva El Birdos, SB Nation's Cards blog. Astros news and analysis is available at Crawfish Boxes. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more breaking news and updates concerning all matters St. Louis sports, and MLB Daily Dish for all your MLB rumors and news.
