ST. LOUIS -- After getting smacked around in his comeback start, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse left Busch Stadium not knowing what was next.

No doubt he'll get the ball again for a team that needs the right-hander back in form for the stretch.

"He did some good things and had some problems and stuff," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said after Lohse was blasted for seven runs in three innings in Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs. "We're confident in him -- that's why he got the ball."

Lohse is 1-5 with an unsightly 6.79 ERA following his first outing since undergoing forearm surgery in late May. But he was a 15-game winner in 2008, and the Cardinals -- who felt they were short enough in pitching to part with Ryan Ludwick and acquire Jake Westbrook at the trade deadline -- are hopeful he can regain that form.

The first time out, there was one positive sign. After failing to retire none of the five batters he faced in a six-run fourth, Lohse did not trudge off the mound holding his arm in pain.

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse throws Sunday against the Cubs. Lohse lasted just three innings in his first outing since undergoing forearm surgery in late May. (Jeff Roberson ~ Associated Press)

"I'm back," Lohse said. "It is what it is. I didn't pitch very good, and I'm waiting to get back out there."

La Russa said earlier in the weekend that because the Cardinals have three days off in an eight-day stretch that he'd give everyone in the rotation two extra days' rest. Lohse took the place of rookie Jaime Garcia, who'll work against the Brewers tonight.

So Lohse's likely next outing will be Sunday -- a six-day break -- against the Giants.

"I don't know what the plan is," Lohse said. "Obviously, we've got to get the guys that are going good right now in as often as possible. We'll see how they handle it."

After dropping two of three to the Cubs over the weekend, the Cardinals dropped a game behind the Reds in the NL Central.

They need positives for the starters beyond the top three in the rotation. They're 48-25 when Adam Wainwright (17-6, 1.99), Chris Carpenter (13-4, 2.95) and Garcia (10-5, 2.71) pitch, but 17-26 otherwise.

That's where Westbrook, who's 1-0 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts, and Lohse come in. Jeff Suppan, eligible to come off the DL today from a groin injury, is a backup option.

At least Lohse is healthy. The results weren't pretty, but the right-hander said he felt just as strong in the fourth inning as he had in the first.

He trailed 2-1 after giving up a pair of homers to Derrek Lee before getting knocked out in a rally that began with a bloop single by Marlon Byrd and a single by Xavier Nady that found a hole between third and short.

"Then all hell broke loose after that," Lohse said. "I just wasn't good. I'll gather myself and go back."

The blowout was a chance for La Russa to give Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday a bit of a break, and he refused to second-guess the decision when the Cardinals made it interesting with a five-run ninth in a 9-7 loss. Felipe Lopez got a pinch two-run single in Pujols' third slot and Randy Winn walked in Holliday's cleanup spot.

La Russa also pointed out that the Cubs would have gone with closer Carlos Marmol a lot earlier if the game had been closer.

"A ninth like that is a little bit misleading," La Russa said. "You always run the risk of the at-bat coming up and you say, 'Where was Albert?'

"Normally it doesn't turn out that well, but you forget the rally started because of guys like [Aaron] Miles, [Nick] Stavinoha, [Steven] Hill."

Rookie Allen Craig made his first career start at third base in place of Lopez, who had been in a 2 for 32 slump. La Russa said Lopez would be back in the lineup today against the Brewers, and was noncommittal whether Craig, who made a fielding error on his lone chance, would start there again.

"It's one of those moves you have to make, not because you want to make them," the manager said. "But I don't hesitate to make it because I really think this guy's a gamer, a talented gamer."