Lynn keeps Cardinals close in 11-inning loss to White Sox
ST. LOUIS -- The only damage against Lance Lynn came on a single that deflected off second base.
The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander didn't threaten double-digit strikeouts, but he did just fine going up against Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale.
"My innings were ugly, but the defense made some plays and I made some pitches when I needed to," Lynn said after the Cardinals lost 2-1 in 11 innings on Tuesday night. "The ball was moving pretty good and they weren't able to square it up."
Lynn made a big save in the second, too. Second baseman Pete Kozma dropped a relay throw, costing the Cardinals a double play and leaving the bases loaded with none out, but Lynn escaped without damage.
"Lance was pretty good, too," manager Mike Matheny said. "He got better as he went, but unfortunately took him a lot of pitches to get there."
Lynn allowed a run on six hits in six innings but needed 117 pitches. In two starts off the 15-day disabled list from a forearm strain he's surrendered one run in 12 innings.
Sale matched a major league record by striking out at least 10 in eight straight starts, and Tyler Flowers homered in the 11th for Chicago. Sale struck out 12 in eight innings. The lefty tied the mark set by Pedro Martinez in 1999 with Boston.
The White Sox ace had fanned every hitter in the St. Louis lineup by the end of the sixth. He is 0-2 with two no-decisions during the last four games of his streak, getting only four runs of support.
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Sale helped himself in his 100th career start, singling for his first hit and scoring the first run for the White Sox.
Flowers hit his sixth homer with two outs in the 11th. He connected off Miguel Socolovich (2-1), pitching for the first time in nine days.
"We like him in those situations," Matheny said. "He's been in mostly tough situations, he's just got to pitch. We have no hesitation to throw him in there right there."
Matheny would have loved Socolovich's post-game comments, too. The right-hander refused to use the long layoff as an excuse.
"That's OK, anything can happen in this game," Socolovich said. "I'm going to be same tomorrow. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and help the team win."
Daniel Webb (1-0) got the win and David Robertson earned his 16th save in 20 chances.
Randal Grichuk homered into Big Mac Land and doubled for the Cardinals, whose nine-game home winning streak ended.
Both teams recorded 14 strikeouts. White Sox leadoff man Adam Eaton fanned four times and rookie Xavier Scruggs struck out three times for St. Louis.
Sale struck out the side in the third. He got his 10th strikeout against Jhonny Peralta in the sixth.
Sale singled leading off the third, advanced on a groundout and scored on Jose Abreu's one-out hit that looked like a groundout before caroming off the second base bag. Sale had been 0 for 8 with six strikeouts in his career.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Reliever Dan Jennings (neck) made his third rehab appearance Monday for Triple A Charlotte, working two scoreless innings.
Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia has not thrown a bullpen session since cramping in his groin in his last start last Wednesday and is a question mark for Thursday's start.
UP NEXT
Chicago's Jose Quintana is 2-6 in his last 12 starts but with a 3.10 ERA. John Lackey is 7-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 career starts in St. Louis, including 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA this year.
