Lance Lynn just hasn’t pitched well against the Cubs this season.
Lynn entered Friday afternoon’s game against the National League Central division rival team from the Windy City with a record of 0-2 and an ERA of over 4.50 so this season. He looked to fix that, as the Cardinals entered with a four game winning streak, and suddenly seemed to have found their groove as the playoffs draw near.
But Chicago would have none of that in game one of the series, and thanks to a big day from Starlin Castro, the Cubs won 8-3. For the afternoon, the starters were Lynn (11-10, 3.17 ERA) and former Cardinals pitcher Dan Haren (9-9, 3.87).
The rough outing for Lynn started in the bottom of the first inning, when Anthony Rizzo singled to center, which scored Kyle Schwarber for the first run of the game. During the next at-bat, Tommy La Stella smashed a double to left field to score Chris Coghlan and advance Rizzo to third. Following a walk to Miguel Montero, Starlin Castro stepped up to the plate, and singled to score Rizzo, the first of six RBI’s of the afternoon for the veteran second baseman.
St. Louis rallied from the 3-0 deficit to cut it to a one-run game during the following inning. Kolten Wong tripled with one out to score Stephen Piscotty to make it 3-1 Chicago. Tony Cruz then grounded out, which scored Wong in the process as the score became 3-2.
They later tied the game in the top of the fifth when Haren walked Tommy Pham with the bases loaded, making it 3-3.
But that turned out to be the last run the Cardinals would score for the afternoon. Castro and the Cubs, however, were just getting started
With Seth Maness on the mound during the bottom of the fifth, Castro hit a two-run home run to suddenly make it a 5-3 Cubs lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning, with Steve Cishek on the mound this time, Castro struck again, this time with a three-run home run to make it an 8-3 lead for Chicago.
And that turned out to be the final score as the Cubs defeated the Cardinals as they now only trail St. Louis by six games in the division. The Cardinals will have Michael Wacha take the mound on Saturday, as they attempt to clinch a postseason berth (as the magic number is currently at two).
(Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
