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(AP) -- Kyle Lohse threw seven scoreless innings for his 15th victory and contributed an RBI double as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 4-1 Tuesday night to stay in front for the second NL wild card.

Fernando Abad (0-5) had a career-best six strikeouts in the Astros' 100th loss.

They're 8-8 this month under interim manager Tony DeFrancesco and need nine wins in the final 14 games to avoid topping last season's franchise-record 106 losses.

Daniel Descalso got a key early RBI and Jon Jay had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, coming off a 2-5 trip but with a favorable upcoming schedule with the next eight against lowly Houston and Chicago.

With 14 games to play the defending World Series champions are 1½ games ahead of the Dodgers, rained out at Washington, and 2½ games ahead of the Brewers.

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