St. Louis ? Tony La Russa is in his 32nd year as a manager. He can’t remember any of his pitching staffs being virtually untouchable this long.

Kyle Lohse threw eight innings of four-hit ball and the St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Kansas City Royals, 5-0, for the second straight game Saturday, giving the rotation its fifth straight dominant outing.

Lohse (4-3) struck out six and walked none, shaking off three straight losses. Cardinals starters have allowed one run in 36 2/3 innings during a five-game winning streak in which St. Louis has outscored its opponents, 18-2. Joel Pineiro turned in a complete game and Adam Wainwright went 8 2/3 innings in another start during this dazzling stretch.

“This would probably be the best I’ve had a chance to watch,” La Russa said. “How do you explain it? Just enjoy it.”

The streak is the franchise’s best since 1973 when St. Louis had three shutouts and allowed one run twice in the final five games.

Before the run, the starters walked 23 while getting swept in a three-game series against the Brewers.

“We’ll just try to keep it going,” Lohse said. “You don’t want to be the guy that messes up this string of starts we’ve got.”

Nick Stavinoha drove in two runs in the first for the second straight day, providing a fast start for a club that had lost seven of nine before the pitching staff took over. Skip Schumaker added his third homer, all in a span of 30 at-bats, in the third.

Miguel Olivo doubled twice but no runner made it past second for the Royals, who have lost 11 of 14 to fall one game below .500 (21-22) for the first time since they were 2-3 on April 11. Kansas City has been shut out three times, all in the last 13 games, and has 10 hits the last two games.

“When things go bad, they go bad in a hurry and usually in all areas,” manager Trey Hillman said.

The Royals had only three runners in scoring position against Lohse, who retired the side in order four times. He looked impressive after struggling on short rest in a makeup game against the Brewers on Monday, allowing four runs in four innings.