St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse and two others combined on a three-hitter to help the reeling Cardinals post a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Lohse (6-1), whom the Indians had beat in seven of his last eight starts against them, threw 7 2/3 shutout innings to earn his first win in a month. Carlos Beltran hit his league-leading 17th homer in the Cardinals' fourth win in six games following a five-game slide.

St. Louis looked to be doing just fine in the wake of Albert Pujols' departure and Chris Carpenter's injury, sitting at 20-11 after Lohse's last victory, a 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks on May 9. Since then, however, the team is 11-18 and has lost its grip on first place.

Now, the Cardinals will go for the franchise's first series win over Cleveland on Sunday. St. Louis is 6-13 all-time against the Indians, losing all six series the clubs have played.

The lone bright spot for the Indians was Michael Brantley's bunt single to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest active streak in the majors. He had two of the team's three hits.

Justin Masterson (2-6) was a hard-luck loser after allowing one run in seven innings for Cleveland, which had yet to be shut out this season.

The Sports Network