Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn speaks with the media on Sunday, June 30, 2024, after a win vs. the Reds at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
With a bullpen that has been exhausted in recent days and a series split up for grabs vs. the Reds on Sunday, the Cardinals got just what they needed from starter Lance Lynn and their offense.
Lynn provided his club with six scoreless innings against Cincinnati and was backed by two runs in the fifth and sixth innings that aided the Cardinals (43-40) to a 2-0 win at Busch Stadium. Behind Lynn’s six frames, Andrew Kittredge (â…” of an inning), JoJo Romero (1â…“ innings) and Ryan Helsley (one inning) bridged the rest of the ballgame to notch ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ fifth shutout of the season and its second this weekend.
Helsley’s save was his 30th of the season. All of Helsley’s saves have come in consecutive fashion. The successful save tied Helsley with Hall of Famer Lee Smith for the most by a Cardinals closer before the All-Star break.
Offensively, the Cardinals received RBIs from Alec Burleson (1 for 3) and Masyn Winn (2 for 4).
Coming off a winning decision in his last start, Lynn delivered his first scoreless outing since he threw four scoreless innings during ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ home opener on April 4.
Against the Reds, Lynn kept opposing hitters to two hits and one walk over six innings. The right-hander’s six strikeouts were his most in a start since he collected six against the Colorado Rockies on June 7.
The only hits Lynn allowed came in the second inning on a double from Jonathan India and in the fifth on a single from Stuart Fairchild, who stole second base during the following at-bat. Lynn did not allow a Reds base runner to reach third against him. He left the ballgame after setting down the side in order to end the sixth inning and reaching 79 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.
Youngsters get offense going
After the Cardinals were limited to one hit against Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene through the first four innings, the offense broke through in the fifth.
Rookie catcher Pedro Pages, who had the Cardinals' lone hit before the fifth inning began, singled on a line drive to left field. Two at-bats later, rookie shortstop Winn advanced Pages to second base with a single to right field, setting the stage for second-year right fielder Burleson.
As the first Cardinals hitter to bat with a runner in scoring position on Sunday, Burleson pulled a ground ball between Reds first baseman Spencer Steer and second baseman India for a single to right field. Pages raced from second base to home and scored standing up after Jake Fraley’s throw from right field was up the third base line.
The RBI from Burleson was his 19th of June and comes after he went hitless in four at-bats on Saturday. The 25-year-old has produced an RBI in seven of his past nine games following Sunday’s series finale.
An inning later, Pages singled to give him the first three-hit game of his MLB career and put runners on first and second base after Nolan Arenado singled to begin the frame.
Following a strikeout by Michael Siani, Winn doubled Arenado home from second on the second pitch he saw from right-hander Fernando Cruz, who entered the ballgame to face Winn.
A bit of banter
Following Burleson’s RBI single in the fifth inning that put runners on first and third base, Greene loaded the bases when he hit catcher Willson Contreras on the left arm with a 96.8 mph fastball. Contreras recently returned after several weeks out with a broken left forearm.
Contreras stared down Greene after he was plunked by the righty. Once he reached first base, Contreras appeared to voice some frustrations with the hit by pitch toward Greene. As Contreras voiced his displeasure, Reds infielders India and Elly De La Cruz walked toward the infield grass as if to get in between Greene and Contreras.
There was a momentary on-field delay as words were exchanged, but the benches did not empty nor were any ejections made.
Green induced a fly out vs. Paul Goldschmidt following the hit by pitch to Contreras and was replaced on the mound by lefty Sam Moll as left-handed hitter Brendan Donovan was due up next. Moll got Donovan ground out to end the fifth inning.
Lynn reaches 1,000
Lynn secured his third strikeout of the afternoon when he froze Noelvi Marte on a cutter thrown middle-away to the right-handed-hitting 22-year-old in the second inning.
The strikeout was Lynn’s 1,000th in his career with the Cardinals. The milestone strikeout made him the sixth Cardinals pitcher to do so joining Bob Gibson (3,117), Adam Wainwright (2,202), Dizzy Dean (1,095), Chris Carpenter (1,085) and Bob Forsch (1,079).
A graphic acknowledging Lynn’s 1,000th strikeout as a Cardinal was shown on the video board at Busch Stadium. The Busch Stadium crowd gave the right-hander a standing ovation following the strikeout of Marte.