(Sports Network) - Unlikely standout Kyle Lohse can get a second 2008 victory over Washington tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals head to Nationals Park to open a three-game series with the homestanding Nationals.

Lohse, a three-game winner in 2006 who then went 9-12 with two teams last season, improved to 5-2 this year with a 3-2 defeat of the Houston Astros on May 29. In the win, Lohse allowed five hits and a run over six innings and ran his unbeaten streak to four starts.

The 6-foot-2, 209-pound right-hander met the Nationals in his second start of the season on April 6 and picked up his first win, allowing just four hits in seven innings of St. Louis' 3-0 victory at Busch Stadium.

Lifetime against the Nationals, he is 1-1 in seven appearances - five starts - with a 5.76 earned run average in 29 2/3 innings.

For Washington, veteran lefty Odalis Perez can make it three wins in his last four decisions. The 6-foot, 212-pounder, who turns 31 next week, defeated the San Diego Padres on May 28, allowing six hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings of Washington's 6-4 win.

Perez is 3-5 in 12 career meetings with the Cardinals - nine starts - and has posted an 8.87 ERA in 47 2/3 innings.

On Monday in St. Louis, Adam Wainwright was well on his way to another dominant start, but Pittsburgh scored four runs in the seventh and added the game-winning tally on Jason Bay's RBI single in the eighth to post a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals in the finale of a four-game series.

Wainwright's (5-3) demise was the story of a game that went smoothly for six frames.

Then came the seventh inning, where Pirates manager John Russell's pinch- hitting choice changed the game's dynamic. Bay's one-out double put an abrupt end to Wainwright's groove, and Xavier Nady and Jose Bautista each walked -- the only two surrendered by Wainwright over eight innings.

Russell called on veteran Jason Michaels to hit for Raul Chavez, a catcher batting just .217 on the season and 0-for-2 in Monday's contest.

Michaels wasted little time by smoking the first pitch into the left-center field bullpen for his first career grand slam and Pittsburgh's first pinch-hit grand slam since 2003.

That instantly tied the game, and in the eighth, Bay found real estate in right field for a single, scoring Nate McLouth with the go-ahead run after McLouth singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt earlier in the frame.

On Sunday in Arizona, Dan Haren threw seven spectacular innings as the Diamondbacks beat the Nationals, 5-0, to take the rubber match of a three-game series.

Jesus Flores had a double, which was the lone extra-base hit for the Nats, who have dropped five of their last seven. Dmitri Young walked twice in defeat.

Washington starter Shawn Hill (0-2) was touched for five runs on seven hits in just four frames. Brian Sanches and Charlie Manning threw two innings each, and gave up a total of one hit.

St. Louis swept a three-game series from the Nats earlier in the season.