Lynnings are in the past for Lance Lynn

Lynnings are more or less a thing of the past for St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn.

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I wrote just over a week ago how Lynn was emerging as an ace for the Cardinals as Adam Wainwright struggled with his game from the pitching mound.

Saturday night’s game saw some defensive miscues that would have seen Lynn get out of rhythm and not be able to pitch a quality game if it had happened two or three seasons ago.

After the game, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny offered his thoughts on how Lynn has been able to handle such miscues.

“There was a rough first [inning] but he got out of it,” Matheny said in an MLB.com article. “We’ve seen in the past, really before this season, where a couple of miscues behind him [turned] into a really ugly inning. But today he was able to limit the damage. And I thought he got better after that.

“He’s starting to see the benefits of having a consistent approach on the mound regardless of the circumstances; not getting distracted, not letting his emotions get out of whack. Overall, he did what you’d expect a veteran pitcher to do. I think he’s starting to gain traction because of situations like that and being able to get out of them.

“We don’t want to take the emotion or the intensity away from him. I think that’s one of his strengths. But to harness it in the middle of a game is the key.”

With his win on Sunday night, Lance Lynn joined Max Scherzer with having won 15 games for each of the last three seasons. Lynn his 49-26 in his career with a 3.51 ERA. However, his 2.80 ERA is the best earned run average for the former Ole Miss pitcher since splitting the 2009 season across three teams in the minors.

Lynn has crossed the 150 strikeout plateau for the third consecutive season and finished two strikeouts shy in 2013 of hitting the 200 strikeout mark. Whether he gets there or not this season more or less depends on how the rest of September plays out.

In Lynn’s past ten starts dating back to July 18, the Indiana native is 5-2 with a 2.18 ERA. As far as earned runs are concerned, Lynn has only allowed three runs in two games. The game against the Baltimore Orioles on August 10 is the only game in which the pitcher did not get out of the sixth inning.

He won’t win the Cy Young Award but his 2.80 ERA currently ranks him in seventh (entering Sunday) in the National League. His 156 strikeouts are just shy of the top ten. His 15 wins also put him in the top ten, too.