Lynn returns dominant as ever to complete sweep at Miami
A rare, brief stint on the disabled list left Lance Lynn eager to return to the mound for the first time in more than two weeks.
If he experienced any more discomfort from a strained forearm, it certainly didn't show Thursday night in Miami. Lynn turned in one of his best performances of the season to lead the Cardinals to a 5-1 victory, completing a three-game sweep of the Marlins.
"To go up there and to walk four and not give up any runs is a good feeling, and I was able to move the ball in and out and had good movement on all the pitches," Lynn told reporters on the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest. "I was able to mix it up when I needed to, so that was good."
He began with six straight outs and gave up only two hits, one of which came on a bunt to lead off the third. Lynn struck out six batters, including Marcell Ozuna to end the sixth inning and strand two baserunners.
The bullpen took it from there to seal Lynn's fifth win of the season, despite Adeiny Hechavarria's home run in the ninth off Carlos Villanueva. It's the third time this season Lynn has held an opponent scoreless, and he left the game with his season ERA below 2.90 for the first time all year.
"He was climbing with the four-seamer, controlling counts, trusting his defense to make plays by pounding the zone and threw a couple off-speed pitches," manager Mike Matheny told reporters during Cardinals Live. "He busted out the changeup, that only curveball he threw, but for the most part cutting, sinking and four-seaming the fastball worked well."
Some extra caution ended Lynn's outing at 92 pitches, the fewest he's thrown since his first start of the season at Chicago. Lynn expects the St. Louis coaches and training staff to keep a close eye on his forearm, but he doesn't have any injury concerns moving forward.
3 UP
• Kozma ends slump. The late decision to give shortstop Jhonny Peralta a rest paid off for the Cardinals.
Pete Kozma started a big day by getting hit by a pitch and scoring the game's first run in the second, and he followed that with a single to break out of an 0-for-21 slump in the fifth. Kozma singled and scored again on a bunt in the seventh before driving home Randal Grichuk on a single in the eighth.
"Pete was great offensively, and defensively, the play he made up the middle (ranging far to his left to snag a groundball up the middle and throw out J.T. Realmuto) was just fantastic," Matheny said. "A good day all around for Pete. We needed that."
• Bunting for the win. A pair of perfectly executed sacrifice bunts turned into much more for the Cardinals in a critical three-run seventh inning.
Jon Jay scored from second when second baseman Dee Gordon dropped the throw to first on Kozma's bunt, and Mike Dunn took far too long checking baserunners when Greg Garcia laid down a bunt of his own. He easily beat it out for a single to load the bases and set up Kolten Wong's RBI walk.
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"Two bunts, big plays and putting pressure on the defense," Matheny said. "We haven't bunted a lot this year, but when we have those certain guys in the lineup, they're going to have to get that job done and they did a nice job of doing it."
• Miami success. No National League team has been better in Miami than St. Louis. The Cardinals' sweep improved their all-time road record against the Marlins to 53-32, good for a winning percentage of .624. At Busch Stadium, St. Louis holds a 48-36 record against Miami since it began play as the Florida Marlins in 1993.
3 DOWN
• Reynolds' strikeout streak. While Jason Heyward extended his hit streak to eight games, Mark Reynolds added to a significantly less impressive eight-game streak of his own. The Cardinals' leader in strikeouts went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
• Molina error. A rare Yadier Molina error left the lone blemish on an otherwise outstanding performance from the St. Louis defense. He threw wildly to first on a bunt, allowing Hechevarria to advance to second base after what was officially scored as a single. The Cardinals' catcher has four errors, putting the seven-time Gold Glove winner well above the pace to surpass six errors for the first time since 2008.
• Lynn walks. Lynn occasionally lost his command and ended up with a season-high four walks in his return to the mound.
He made up for those mistakes by holding Miami hitters to 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and one of those walks might have been Lynn's intention, since it came against major league home-run leader Giancarlo Stanton with the bases empty and two outs with St. Louis ahead 1-0.
"It was pretty obvious what I was doing in the last inning and then kind of got out of my rhythm," Lynn said. "But walked the pitcher and walked another guy on four straight, which wasn't what I was trying to do, but that's just part of getting back out there and trying to stay in your rhythm."
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
