St. Louis Cardinals: Huge first inning collapse dooms Cardinals

With a chance to move even closer to a post-season spot, the St. Louis Cardinals could not over come their first inning deficit.

Perhaps St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher last night, Lance Lynn, said it best in a post game interview. “You know, there was a couple of balls up, and then a couple of things didn’t go my way. Unfortunately, that happens some nights.” If you watched last night’s game, you definitely could see what he was talking about in the first inning.

After the St. Louis Cardinals took the lead on a Tommy Pham home run, most of us thought Lynn would get the victory. Unfortunately, no one was expecting the kind of melt down we saw. After giving up a single and a walk to the first two Pirates’ batters, Andrew McCutchen hit a single to load the bases. Drama early on, right?

Well, it didn’t get any better. Lynn struck out Josh Bell for the first out, but then the wheels came off. The next four batters all reached on a hit, and before you knew it, the game’s score was 6-2 in favor of the Pirates. The worst of the offensive showcase was a triple by Jordy Mercer to center field. Lynn was only able to get the second out against the Pirates’ starting pitcher Gerrit Cole.

However, Lynn would walk the next batter, and that was it. In came Josh Lucas in relief of Lynn. Hiw luck wasn’t any better either. Lucas gave up a run on  a wild pitch, and later served a triple to Starling Marte to push the lead to 8-2 in the first inning.

For Lance Lynn, the 0.2 innings pitched matched his shortest outing of his career. Last time he pitched 0.2 innings was on August 13, 2015. Coincidentally, that game was also against the Pirates. For as much as Lance Lynn beat himself up in the post-game interview, sometimes there isn’t a lot you can control. There was only one play in that first inning that blew this game wide open and Lynn had nothing to do with it (I plan on writing about it later).

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

I will give this team some credit, though. The St. Louis Cardinals continued to battle throughout the game. By the time the sixth inning rolled around, the Cardinals were down 10-3.

The Cardinals were able to score three runs in the top-half of the sixth inning, and for a split second you might have thought there was a chance.

I mean, after Friday’s game, how could you not think that, right?

Unfortunately, the Cardinals were not able to muster anything else against the Pirates the rest of the way. They ended up losing 11-6, and waited to see if their post=season hopes would take a hit.

Because both the Brewers and Rockies loss last night, the Cardinals maintain their position in the Wild Card race at 1.5 games back of the Rockies.

Next: Hurricane Maria relief for Puerto Rico

The St. Louis Cardinals must put yesterday’s game behind them and win today. The upcoming series against the Chicago Cubs is crucial to their playoff hopes. Any kind of momentum will help against the Cubs, who seem to have found their winning stroke as of late.