On Independence Day, the St. Louis Cardinals ended their longest losing streak of the 2015 season when they defeated the San Diego Padres 2-1. And they looked to split the series with the Padres when the two teams faced off in the series on Sunday.
Backed by a veteran pitcher and young hitter, that’s exactly what occurred.
Pitcher Lance Lynn threw seven quality innings, and Tommy Pham hit his first career home run in the Major Leagues, as the Cardinals defeated the Padres 3-1.
The pitching matchup for the game featured Lynn (5-4, 2.74) facing off against Ian Kennedy (4-7, 4.86) for the Padres.
Kennedy started off strong, throwing two scoreless innings for the Padres, as did Lynn, and both teams entered the third inning in a scoreless tie. In the top of the third inning, after getting the first two batters out, Lynn walked Yangervis Solarte. He advanced to second after a throwing error during the pickoff attempt. The Padres then took a 1-0 lead after Matt Kemp hit a single, scoring Solarte.
And after a single by Kemp, Jedd Gyroko walked bringing up a big opportunity for the Padres to increase their lead. But Kolten Wong made a brilliant catch in the field, robbing Yonder Alonso of a hit, and the Padres of at least one run.
With the score 1-0 San Diego, the Cardinals answered right back in the bottom of the third inning. Lynn led off with a single, bringing up the young Pham, who just made the roster over the past week. And Pham immediately made his presence felt, by hitting a two-run home run, his first ever MLB home run, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
Lynn went back to work, throwing a 1-2-3 top of the fourth. Kennedy also threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth. After Lynn shut down the Padres in order once again in the top of the fifth, he went back and did damage at the plate as well. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Lynn hit a ground rule double, bringing up Pham once again. Pham then doubled as well, scoring Lynn and giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
At one point during the game, Lynn had retired 11 straight Padres batters while on the mound, as the Cardinals maintained their two run lead throughout the game. Seth Maness entered to pitch in relief during the top of the eighth inning, with Lynn’s final line being: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 Ks.
Maness continued Lynn’s quality work by putting the Padres down in order as well.
Kevin Siegrist entered to pitch the ninth inning for the Cardinals, with them still ahead 3-1. And Siegrist threw a 1-2-3 inning as well to end the game, as the Cardinals won their second straight, splitting the series with the Padres.
Lynn improves to 6-4 while Kennedy falls to 4-8. The Cardinals improve their record to 53-28, and the Padres fall to 39-45. The Cardinals are currently 25 games above .500 as the season is at the halfway point and 31-11 at Busch Stadium.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
