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(Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse seeks his fifth win in as many starts this afternoon when the St. Louis Cardinals continue their three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium.

Lohse, who was 3-0 in 13 games with the Phillies last season, has been a pleasant surprise for the Cardinals since signing with them as a free agent late in spring training, going 7-2 with a 3.92 earned run average.

The 29-year-old right-hander's latest win came on Sunday against the Houston Astros, as he allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, extending his unbeaten streak to six starts.

Lohse has faced his former team three times and is 0-1, despite surrendering just three earned runs in 19 1/3 innings of those contests.

Philadelphia will counter with right-hander Adam Eaton, who is 2-3 with a 4.62 ERA. Eaton received a no-decision on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, surrendering three runs and eight hits in six innings of his team's 6-3 win.

Eaton is 1-4 lifetime against the Cards with a 6.82 ERA in seven starts.

Eaton can only hope for the same type of run support Kyle Kendrick received in the opener of this set on Friday, as St. Louis native Ryan Howard continued to terrorize his hometown team, belting two home runs, driving in five runs and scoring four times in Philadelphia's 20-2 rout.

Howard has now played in 17 games against the Redbirds and has crushed eight home runs with 22 runs batted in and 17 runs scored. His outburst helped the Phillies tie their season-high in runs and set season-highs with 21 hits and six doubles.

Carlos Ruiz had his first career four-hit game and drove in four runs for the Phillies, who improved to 5-2 on their current nine-game road trip. Chase Utley went 2-for-3, slammed his major league-leading 22nd home run and drove in three, while Pat Burrell homered, walked three times and scored three times. Utley, Howard and Burrell combined for back-to-back-to-back homers in the first to give Philadelphia a lead it would never relinquish.

Kendrick (6-2) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on eight hits in seven innings to earn the win. Kendrick has not lost since April 16, a span of 11 starts, and the Phils are 10-1 in that stretch. The righty also helped himself at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

Todd Wellemeyer (7-2) took the loss for the Cardinals. who dropped their second straight game after winning four in a row. Wellemeyer, who entered the game 5-0 with a 1.88 earned run average over his last seven starts, was rocked for eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Skip Schumaker hit a solo homer for St. Louis, while Troy Glaus added an RBI single.

Philadelphia took six of nine in the series last year. That includes a 4-2 mark in St. Louis.