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Kyle Lohse allowed four hits in seven innings, Rick Ankiel homered and St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with a 3-0 victory Sunday.
St. Louis has won five straight since losing on opening day and is 5-1 for the first time since winning seven of eight to start 2000. Despite beginning the season with Joel Pineiro, Mark Mulder, Matt Clement and Chris Carpenter on the DL, the Cardinals' rotation has allowed four runs in 37 2-3 innings, an 0.96 ERA.
In all, the Cardinals have nine players on the DL, the most in the major leagues. Pineiro could be ready by the end of next week, Mulder next month, Clement in mid-May and Carpenter in July.
Lohse (1-0), who signed as a free agent on March 14, has thrown 12 scoreless innings in two starts. The Nationals had runners in scoring position in the second and third, and Lohse finished strong, retiring his last nine hitters.
Randy Flores and Ryan Franklin split the eighth, and Jason Isringhausen finished for his third save in three chances. Isringhausen was helped by a leaping catch by Ankiel in center field on a Lastings Milledge drive.
Fourteen Nationals went down in order before Ryan Zimmerman's two-out single in the ninth.
Ankiel has been a big part of the offense, with three homers and six RBIs on the opening homestand, Yadier Molina had five RBIs and Ryan Ludwick four. Albert Pujols is batting .353 with seven walks.
Rookie John Lannan (0-1) allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings for the Nationals, who have lost four in a row after a 3-0 start.
Brian Barton walked leading off the first and scored on Ankiel's double off the base of the wall in left-center. Ankiel homered with one out in the third, an opposite-field drive to left-center that landed in the first row beyond the power alley. Ludwick tripled to start the eighth off Luis Ayala and scored on Molina's sacrifice fly.
[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]
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