Cardinal bats power Lance Lynn to victory

The matchup last night saw a pitching duel between Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn and Reds starter Bronson Arroyo.
Apr 9, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn (31) throws to a Cincinnati Reds batter during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Arroyo had a perfect game going until the bottom of the 6th when second baseman Daniel Descalso doubled on a line drive to Jay Bruce in right field. The very next play saw Pete Kozma ground out to second while Descalso advanced to third. Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips was unable to make up his mind as to which base to throw to.

With Lynn’s spot due up at the plate, Matt Adams stepped in as a pinch-hitter. With a 1-1 count, Adams smashed a 68 mph curveball past the right field wall for a 2-run home run. This gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals would not lose the lead again.

Jon Jay singled to left. After a bit of a delay, Matt Carpenter singled on a liner to right and advance to second on the throw.

Following a coaching visit to the mound, Matt Holliday was intentionally walked. Allen Craig grounded out to Phillips but not without driving in Jon Jay to extend the lead to 3-1.

The big baserunning blunder came during Carlos Beltran‘s single on a liner to Shin-Soo Choo. While Marp scored, Holliday was just short of beating the throw to the plate. He should have been held at third base but that was just not to be.

In the 8th inning, Marp scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-1.

Lynn had a great outing for the Cardinals. Lynn struck out 10 in 6 innings. He allowed 4 hits, 1 run, and walked one. He was the second consecutive starting pitcher to strike out 10 batters.

Mitchell Boggs recovered quite well from Monday’s disastrous outing. He pitched a perfect 9th inning and struck out one. He lowered his ERA to 11.81 on the season.