Rants Daily: Lynn excels in first start

Lance Lynn probably doesn’t want to be referred to as ‘Plan B’. If he pitches like he did yesterday on a regular basis, he may become part of Plan A.

Lynn making his first start in place of injured Chris Carpenter, went three innings throwing 29 of 40 pitches for strikes against division rival Houston Astros. He allowed two hits and struck out three batters without allowing a walk.

I wrote yesterday that Lynn could be somewhat of a surprise based on his work in the minors and the short stint he had with the club last season. Efforts like today will ease the minds of Cardinals management and allow them to take it slowly with Carpenter if needed. It also provides them with the knowledge that if another member of the rotation goes down with an injury, Lynn can step in. It is only one start but a positive one.

In the Cardinals third they pieced together five straight two-out singles to score three runs. The score held at 3-0 until the top half of the 6th inning where it fell apart for Adam Ottavino. The Astros scored four times on four hits and a walk. Ottavino let up two ground-rule doubles in the inning, one to Brian Bogusevic and the other to Brett Wallace. Scott Linebrink came into the inning with two outs and got J.B. Shuck to pop out to Tyler Greene at second for the final out. Linebrink pitched a scoreless seventh and Mitchell Boggs a shutdown eighth inning. Three pitchers including Eduardo Sanchez pitched the ninth without allowing a run.

In all the Cardinals slapped thirteen hits, twelve of which were singles. Zack Cox had the lone extra base hit, a pinch-hit double. Matt Holliday had three hits and a RBI and Yadier Molina had two hits with a RBI. Jon Jay and Shane Robinson collected two hits as well.

CARPENTER PLAYS CATCH

Carpenter played catch yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks according to MLB.com reporter Jenifer Langosch. He reported no issues after tossing the ball with fellow rotation member Jake Westbrook. At present there is no official timeline for his next pitching activity. Carpenter says he continues to feel better each day and it is up to the trainers and doctors to stipulate the course of action going forward.

CARDINALS MAKE CUTS INCLUDING MILLER

Shelby Miller was among seven players sent to the minor league camp. Miller will be able to stay on his turn by heading to the minor league camp. There was no intention of Miller going further than this as the Cardinals need to get the five-man rotation on a set schedule heading into the regular season.

Maikel Cleto and Brandon Dickson were optioned to Triple-A Memphis and are expected to be members of the rotation there. Neither player did anything special during their appearances this spring with the major league club. The cuts leave 44 players in major league camp for 25 spots on the roster.

TODAY’S GAME

Kyle Lohse takes the mound for the third time this spring in Fort Myers against the Boston Red Sox. He has pitched well in his first two starts and looks to get through at least four innings today. At this time there are no lineups posted.

NOTEWORTHY

• Lance Berkman will play tomorrow after being held out this week due to left-knee issues.
• Carlos Beltran said he did not have any issues with his right shoulder after playing right field on Tuesday.

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