Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages speaks with the media on Sunday, June 30, 2024, after a win vs. the Reds at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
As his club readied for the finale of a 10-game homestand that began away from home at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol knew a tone needed to be set on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds.
With Lance Lynn on the mound, the Cardinals and Marmol received what they hoped for, and it didn’t take long for the veteran right-hander to do so.
Lynn provided six scoreless innings, struck out six batters and walked one across 79 pitches. His fastball-heavy arsenal led Reds hitters to whiff on 37% of the pitches they swung at, per Statcast. His outing helped the Cardinals to a 2-0 win at Busch Stadium that earned them a series split in the four-game set.
“It’s contagious. It really is,†Marmol said of Lynn’s demeanor. “Seeing him missing bats to get the punchouts and just his demeanor gives you the energy to get through that game and figure out a way to take it, and we did.â€
The win capped a 7-3 homestand for the Cardinals (43-40) as they headed into an off-day Monday after a stretch of 19 games in 20 days. The Cardinals next are set to play 12 games in 14 days before reaching the All-Star break after hosting the Cubs on July 14 and had a need for innings to be covered Sunday.
“Any time you go into any of these games where you know you’re needing to string some real energy and you know you have an off day the next day, seeing someone like Lance on the bump with his — call it what you want — just competitive edge, it’s fun,†Marmol said.
Lynn threw first-pitch strikes to the first 16 batters he faced. His ability to get ahead in counts led to 18 first-pitch strikes to the 21 total batters he faced before he was removed.
Lynn lowered his ERA to 3.59 and improved his record to 4-3. He has completed six or more innings in back-to-back starts and allowed one run or fewer in them after having allowed 17 runs across 17â…” innings in the four prior starts.
“As a pitcher, you don’t ever want to come out,†Lynn said. “If you take the mound wanting to come out, that’s not good. Today, I was able to get through six. Back end (of the bullpen) was fresh and we used them, and we get the win and make sure we split that series.â€
Opposite 24-year-old Hunter Greene, the 37-year-old matched the hard-throwing Reds righty scoreless frame for scoreless frame to open Sunday’s game. As Greene kept the Cardinals to one hit, two walks and a hit by pitch through his first four innings, Lynn kept Cincinnati to one walk and a double through four innings before he got the run support that was needed.
After the Cardinals’ Pedro Pages led off the bottom of the fifth frame with a single and Masyn Winn singled to right field with one out, Alec Burleson drove in the game’s first run with a single to right field. An inning later, a Nolan Arenado leadoff single was followed by a one-out single by Pages, the rookie’s third hit of the game. Arenado scored with two outs when Winn doubled him home.
“A lot of guys have played a lot this week,†said Burleson, who finished with 20 RBIs in 28 games in June. “(Marmol) pulled me in the office and just said, ‘Just give me one more day. Just give me one more day.’ And I think everybody kind of got that message, and we did it, obviously. We may not have scored as many runs as we wanted to but scored enough. ... When the pitching staff is holding their runs, you only need one.â€
With a 2-0 lead and Lynn’s strong start, Marmol used Andrew Kittredge, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley to cover the final three innings Sunday.
Kittredge walked the first batter he faced before retiring the next two. With Reds manager David Bell summoning the left-handed-hitting Nick Martini off the bench to face Kittredge, Marmol called left-hander Romero from the bullpen. Romero would up facing right-handed hitter Santiago Espinal after Bell pulled Martini in favor of the right-on-left matchup vs. Romero.
Romero retired Espinal by inducing a line out to right field and followed that with a scoreless eighth inning to collect his 25th hold of the season. Behind the lefty, Helsley pitched a seamless ninth inning to earn his league-leading 30th save.
All that came after Lynn set the tone for a day Marmol said his club would need to “grind our way through.â€
“He does a really good job of it,†Kittredge said of Lynn’s ability to go deep into his starts. “I think our entire starting staff has done a really good job all year of giving us innings and, even on the days where they don’t seem to have their best stuff, compete and get innings. As much as we have thrown a lot in the bullpen, getting a start like that today is huge. Somebody who has done it for as long as he has, you don’t want to take it for granted and kind of expect it. But it kind of has become that where it is the expectation because he’s going to go out and compete.â€
More than half the Cardinals games have been decided by two runs or fewer, and that's become a big part of the club's identity.
The Cardinals’ Lance Lynn pitches against the Reds on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at Busch Stadium, where he held the Cincinnati lineup to two hits over his six innings and was the winning pitcher in his club’s 2-0 victory.
Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages singles in the sixth inning, one of his three hits in a game against the Reds on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at Busch Stadium.