Lance Lynn shows vintage fire to spark Cardinals to their first victory

Saturday's penultimate series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals was a doozy. Lance Lynn got himself into a bases-loaded jam right off the bat, a torrential downpour stalled the game, a former Cardinal granted the Cardinals 5 runs, a blown save was had by the team's presumptive closer, and the Cardinals got their first victory of the season.

In what was the best outing by a Cardinal starter before Steven Matz on Sunday, Lynn was able to throw 4 innings with 5 strikeouts while only giving up 4 hits and 1 walk. A rain delay of nearly an hour complicated Lynn's return to the mound, so lefty Matthew Liberatore came in for relief.

Lance Lynn was brought on this past offseason to provide innings, to light a fire under the players, and to provide veteran leadership. The fire was definitely evident on Thursday. After allowing the Dodgers' triad of MVP's Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman to get on base via three straight singles, Lynn was then able to strike out the next three batters to end the inning without allowing a run to cross home.

In the postgame interview, Lynn did not mince any words when describing his emotional state during the tumultuous first innings. (Earmuffs, children).

Lance Lynn has always had this personality about him. He is such a vigorous competitor that he was even ejected (twice) during a spring training game by umpire Angel Hernandez. Not even the regular season!

The Cardinals are desperate for this type of adrenaline on the field. Last year's team looked depleted at times; losing will do that to a squad. While Lynn's 2023 season was nothing to write home about, he received Cy Young votes in three separate seasons, and he has two All-Star appearances on his resume. The veteran righty has talent and passion; both of those qualities are necessary to the team's success this year.

The Cardinals were able to gut out a whirlwind of a 10-inning game with the same tenacity and vigor that their 36-year-old starting pitcher had in the first inning. While we can't expect this amount of doggedness every night from the Birds on the Bat, it's rejuvenating to see it already this season, especially against the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers after losing back-to-back games to them the prior two nights.

Lance Lynn is scheduled to be the team's starting pitcher at Busch Stadium for the home opener. For those who will be in attendance, you may be so lucky as to see some more expletives fly on the field.