Lynn benefits from four DPs as Cardinals beat D-backs 5-3
PHOENIX -- Lance Lynn kept finding himself in trouble -- some of it his fault, some of it the fielders behind him.
The right-hander wriggled his way out of it each time with a double play, including one big one with the bases loaded and Arizona's best hitter at the plate.
Lynn pitched six effective innings with the help of four double plays -- one with Paul Goldschmidt up and the bases loaded -- to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday night.
"He made great pitches in tough situations," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He had that extra movement when he needed it."
Matt Carpenter hit a solo homer off Jhoulys Chacin (0-1), and Yadier Molina helped St. Louis break open a tie game with a two-run single in the seventh.
Lynn (10-8) gave the Cardinals a chance for the late rally by inducing three straight inning-ending double plays, the biggest one against Goldschmidt in the fifth.
Trevor Rosenthal gave up a run-scoring single to David Peralta in the ninth before closing out his 39th save for the Cardinals, who have won 10 of their last 11 against Arizona.
"Anytime you can get the 3-hole hitter with the bases loaded and get two outs out of it, it's a big situation," Lynn said of facing Goldschmidt in the fifth.
The Diamondbacks had their chances, finishing with 14 hits. They had a hard time capitalizing, though, stranding 11 runners to end a four-game winning streak. Welington Castillo hit a solo homer but flied out with the bases loaded in the seventh.
"We had our chances," manager Chip Hale said. "We did a great job of getting guys in scoring position and some of our good RBI guys coming up in Goldy and (Aaron) Hill. We just hit into some double plays. You also have to give the pitcher credit."
Lynn allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings his previous start, but the Cardinals had two hits in a 2-0 loss to San Francisco.
He gave up the homer to Castillo in the second inning and a run-scoring double to Hill that tied the game 2-all in the sixth.
The double plays kept the Diamondbacks from doing any more damage against Lynn, particularly after a pair of errors by second baseman Greg Garcia. The St. Louis right-hander ended the third inning with a double play, then got Hill and Goldschmidt to do the same with the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth.
"Lance picking up his defenders is big, getting us back in the dugout and getting the offense going," Matheny said.
The Diamondbacks signed Chacin as a free agent in June and he went 5-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts at Triple A Reno.
Arizona purchased his contract so he could start Monday night's game and the right-hander was solid in his first start in more than a year. Carpenter ended a 0-for-21 slide with a solo homer in the third and Chacin gave up an unearned run on a fielder's choice in the sixth after an error in left field by Peralta.
Chacin was lifted with one out in the seventh after Garcia singled and went to third on a heads-up play on a sacrifice bunt. Tommy Pham hit a run-scoring single off Daniel Hudson -- charged to Chacin -- and Molina made it 5-2 with a two-run single punched into right field.
Chacin allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits.
"It has been a long time," he said. "I am happy to be back in the big leagues. I feel pretty good. I think I made good pitches."
GARCIA'S BOUNCE-BACK
Garcia had a throwing error in the second inning and another in the fifth, his first two of the season. He made up for them in the seventh inning after leading off with a single by taking third base when the Diamondbacks overplayed a sacrifice bunt by Peter Bourjos and left the base open.
Garcia injured his right thumb when Castillo fell on him trying to cover the bag, but stayed in the game and scored on Pham's single.
"It's a great testament to the type of player he is; he doesn't sulk," Matheny said. "He's going to take advantage of whatever opportunity he gets."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams, coming back from quadriceps surgery, could begin playing in rehab games as early as next week. ... OF Matt Holliday has started hitting and throwing but is still limited running after sustaining a second quadriceps strain.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia, Tuesday's starter against Arizona, is 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA in four career starts against the Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray got an extra day's rest between starts heading into Tuesday's game against the Cardinals after the Diamondbacks brought up Chacin to pitch Monday. Ray has not won since July 7 at Texas.
