Lefty Cliff Lee, who the Phillies acquired from Cleveland before the trade deadline, has given up a total of six runs in five second-half starts. All five have been quality outings, and he’s won all five and went the distance in three of them.

A case could be made that Houston’s Wandy Rodriguez is the majors’ most dominant hurler at the moment. His last loss was a 6-1 defeat to the Rangers on June 16. Since then, Rodriguez is 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA in nine starts. In seven outings since the start of July, Rodriguez has blanked three opponents and limited the other four to a single run each.

Lee and Giants ace Tim Lincecum lead the majors with 20 quality starts this season. After a solid outing against the Dodgers on Wednesday, the 25-year-old right-hander has 15 quality starts in his last 16 outings, dating to May 21 -- a stretch in which he’s 9-2 with a 1.55 ERA.

So, who do you think has the longest active streak of quality starts? Would you believe Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals?

Longest Active Streaks of Quality Starts, 2009

Adam Wainwright, StL . . . . .9
Cliff Lee, Cle-Phi. . . . . . . . .7
Brad Bergesen, Bal . . . . . . 7
Derek Lowe, Atl. . . . . . . . .7
Ubaldo Jimenez, Col . . . . . 7

It hasn’t been easy. Wainwright’s string dates to June 26, when he held the Twins to a pair of earned runs but lost a 3-1 decision at Busch Stadium. That’s how things have gone during the streak. The 27-year-old right-hander hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine quality starts, but the Cardinals have failed to score more than a single run in four of them. As a result, he is just 5-3 during his streak, though with a 1.48 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

Now 13-7 (2.73) for the season, Wainwright puts his quality-starts streak on the line when St. Louis hosts San Diego on Friday.