(My Sportsbook) - Streaking right-hander Kyle Lohse seeks win No. 4 in his sixth start of the season today, when the St. Louis Cardinals visit Washington for the finale of a four-game series with the host Nationals.

A reclamation project last spring who turned in a surprising 15-win season in 2008 for the Cardinals, Lohse has opened 2009 with three more victories while allowing 25 hits and just seven earned runs in 32 innings.

He's allowed just one earned run over 11 frames in his two most recent outings, shaking off the effects of a sore knee to defeat the New York Mets on April 23 and take a hard-luck no-decision against Atlanta this past Tuesday.

Lohse swept a pair of starts against Washington last season while giving up just eight hits and a run in 12 innings, limiting Nationals hitters to a .200 batting average in those games.

For Washington, lefty John Lannan tries for an initial win of 2009 in his sixth effort of the season today.

The Nationals are 0-5 in games started by the 24-year-old New York native, in which he's pitched at least six innings three times and struck out 18 batters in 27 1/3 innings.

He fell to 0-3 in his most recent start Tuesday at Philadelphia, losing a 7-1 verdict while giving up nine hits and three earned runs in five innings.

Lannan lost a pair of tough starts to the Cardinals last season, allowing St. Louis batters a .239 average on just 11 hits and four earned runs in 12 2/3 innings.

Washington lost the first two games of this series before rebounding on Saturday. Shairon Martis allowed only one run over nine innings and Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 21 games as the Nationals defeated the Cardinals, 6-1.

Martis (3-0) yielded just five hits while striking out six without issuing a walk in his first career complete-game for the Nationals, who had lost four of five coming into the contest. Zimmerman finished the game 2-for-4 to extend his Nationals-record hitting streak.

Adam Dunn blasted a three-run homer to pace the Washington offense, while Austin Kearns and Anderson Hernandez each had a pair of hits and an RBI each in the win.

Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro (4-1) failed to become the NL's first five-game winner, giving up four runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and a walk while fanning four in seven innings.

With Cards slugger Albert Pujols given the day off after hitting two homers in the last two games, highly-regarded prospect Colby Rasmus provided his team's only offense by hitting his first career home run for St. Louis, which had won three in a row.

St. Louis won five of six meetings with Washington last season.