It’s safe to say Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn has been on a roll lately. In his last ten starts, the right-handed pitcher has gone 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA on the season. On Friday night against the San Diego Padres, he once again shined, winning his 13th game on the season in a 4-2 Cardinals victory.
In the bottom of the first, Matt Adams singled to center, scoring Matt Carpenter. That was followed by another run being scored (Kolten Wong) when Jhonny Peralta grounded into a Fielder’s Choice.
In the bottom of the fourth, Wong singled to left, scoring Jon Jay, giving the Cardinals a moderate 3-0 lead.
Lynn was wheeling and dealing throughout his six innings, allowing only one run (a Will Venable double scored Jace Peterson in the top of the fifth). He also allowed six hits, struck out six, and walked a mere one batter. Overall, it was one of Lynn’s best performances of the season.
Daniel Descalso came into the game to pinch-hit for Lynn in the bottom of the sixth, with the Cardinals holding a 3-1 lead.
Enter Sam Freeman.
Freeman came into the game in the seventh inning, and proceeded to deliver a 1-2-3 inning for the Cardinals.
In the middle of the eight inning, Freeman, who had started the inning, was replaced by the double play machine, Seth Maness. Maness didn’t get a double play, but he did get the Padres’ to strand a runner and end the inning.
Throughout the game, one of the biggest topics was the fact the Cardinals benched Oscar Taveras in favor of Shane Robinson. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Taveras came into the game. He hit a single into center-field, scoring Jay, as he makes the most of out the at-bats he gets. The run gave the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
In the ninth inning, Mike Matheny sent his best reliever to the mound…Pat Neshek. Neshek came into the game with a mere 0.74 ERA, and he continually pitched shutout performances.
After getting the first two out in the ninth, Neshek had only one batter to face: Catcher Yasmani Grandal. And Grandal took a Neshek pitch right down the middle, and sent it out of the park to make it 4-2 Cardinals.
Neshek’s ERA rose to 0.88 after allowing the home run.
But that was all the Padres could muster, as Venable struck out, giving Neshek the save, and Lynn the win. Lynn’s record now stands at 13-8, as the Cardinals won their 65th game of the season.
Shelby Miller will get the start on Saturday.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
