Cardinals-Dodgers: Kyle Lohse's Struggles Cost Redbirds' Finale

In an odd twist of fate, the Cardinals bullpen was not the source of their downfall. Kyle Lohse's early struggles combined with a lack offense paved the way for a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers on Thursday. Lohse's exploits started after when James Loney singled in Jeff Kent in the first inning that would give L.A. an early lead. The very first inning would make Lohse pitch into the high-30's. Manny Ramirez then blasted a 400-plus-foot homer to extend the lead to 3-0. A truly monstrous shot. Lohse had quietly become the Redbirds ace after Adam Wainwright went down with injury. His dominating pitching performances kept St. Louis in the hunt for the NL Central and the Wild Card. Even though this wasn't a horrible outing, Lohse clearly has been having issues. Earlier in the year, it seemed as though Lohse was attacking batters and pitching strikes. Now, Lohse is pitching around batters and not locating his pitches. The combination can lead to disaster as his seven run implosion against the Mets on ... (link)