(Sports Network) - Kyle Lohse has emerged as the unlikely ace for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. The team will be counting on another big outing from the right-hander when it continues a crucial four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at Busch Stadium.

These division rivals are presently tied for the top spot in the National League Wild Card standings, and both teams trail the first-place Chicago Cubs by just two games in the NL Central race. The Brewers drew even with St. Louis by coming through with a 6-3, 10-inning victory in Monday's opener.

Bill Hall put Milwaukee ahead by slugging a solo homer off Ryan Franklin (3-3) to start the top of the 10th, and Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy delivered run- scoring singles later in the frame to extend the margin.

Weeks also had a three-run homer on the evening, while Hall and Jason Kendall each went 3-for-5 to help the red-hot Brewers to their fifth consecutive win.

St. Louis sent the game into extra innings with a run off Milwaukee closer Salomon Torres in the ninth. Yadier Molina led off with a double and was lifted for pinch-runner Brendan Ryan, who eventually scored on Skip Schumaker's sacrifice fly.

Torres (5-2) still received the win after giving up one run and four hits in two innings. Seth McClung worked the first five frames for Milwaukee and held the Cardinals to two runs on five hits while striking out five.

Troy Glaus had a two-run double for St. Louis, which had a five-game win streak snapped, while Schumaker finished 2-for-3.

With Milwaukee slated to throw standouts CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets in the final two matchups of this series, the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Lohse tonight. The offseason free-agent acquisition has been up to the challenge more times than not this year, however, as evidenced by the stellar 12-2 record and 3.35 earned run average he brings into this evening's tilt.

Lohse is riding a run of nine straight winning decisions and hasn't lost in 13 starts since a May 8 setback at Colorado. The Cardinals are 11-2 over the course of those outings.

The 29-year-old has also excelled on the Busch Stadium mound, having amassed a 6-1 record with a 2.73 ERA in 12 home starts this year.

Lohse's season-long success continued in Thursday's start against San Diego. He held the Padres to two runs on seven hits through seven innings to record his 12th win of the season, and has now lasted seven frames in each of four most recent starts.

In 10 career appearances (9 starts) against the Brewers, Lohse is 3-3 with a 5.50 ERA. He had a pair of no-decisions versus Milwaukee back in April and gave up six runs over 11 innings in those two games.

Former Cardinal Jeff Suppan will be activated off the disabled list and start for Milwaukee tonight. The veteran right-hander has not pitched since July 6 due to a sore right elbow and is 5-6 with a 4.71 ERA in 18 starts for the season.

Suppan, who pitched for St. Louis from 2004-06 and played a key role in the club's march to the 2006 World Series title, has been quite tough on his ex- mates since joining the Brewers as a free agent. In four matchups with the Cardinals following his switch of teams, he is a perfect 4-0 with an outstanding 1.48 ERA. That includes a May 11 victory at Miller Park in which Suppan twirled seven innings of one-run ball.

The well-traveled hurler is 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA and two complete games in his 10 lifetime starts against the Cardinals.

Milwaukee holds a 6-4 edge in the 2008 season series with St. Louis, but the Cardinals took two of three tests when the Brewers visited Busch Stadium in April.