Cardinals Recap: Lance Lynn shines in return from DL

facebooktwitterreddit

5. 33. Final. 1. 82

Lance Lynn brilliant in return from DL

The St. Louis Cardinals completed the three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins Thursday with a 5-1 win behind six shutout innings from right-hander Lance Lynn.


St. Louis broke things open late, scoring four runs from the seventh inning on, extending their lead in the National League Central to eight games over the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lynn (5-4, 2.84) made his presence felt all game-long, allowing just two hits and striking out six in his first start since June 7. The Cardinals’ bullpen was solid, as well, turning in three shutout innings in relief of Lynn.

With St. Louis leading 1-0 in the top of the seventh, Pete Kozma, who was starting in place of Jhonny Peralta, bunted a ball in front of the plate with runners at first and second.

Miami catcher J.T. Realmuto fielded the bunt and threw to first, where Dee Gordon was covering the bag. Gordon couldn’t handle the throw, allowing Jon Jay to score from third, making it 2-0 St. Louis.

More from Redbird Rants

A bases-loaded walk to Kolten Wong and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mark Reynolds accounted for the other two Cardinals runs in the frame, taking a 1-0 game and turning it into a 4-0 St. Louis advantage.

St. Louis (48-24) added one final tally in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Kozma. The Cardinals infielder ended the night 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored to pace the offense.

Miami (30-44) didn’t push a run across until the bottom of the ninth when Adeiny Hechavarria hit a solo homer off Carlos Villanueva to pull the Marlins within 5-1, which is where things wound up.

What’s Next:

St. Louis will battle the up-and-coming Chicago Cubs Friday night at Wrigley Field in the opener of a weekend series.

Jake Arrieta (7-5, 3.07) will toe the rubber for Chicago and will be opposed by veteran righty John Lackey (6-4, 3.41) of the Cardinals.

First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. CT.

Next: Several St. Louis Cardinals deserve ASG nod