Fine nine: Lynn shuts down Yankees and logs first career complete game
ST. LOUIS -- In the 75th start of his career, Lance Lynn finally threw his first complete game Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. He didn't settle for any complete game, either.
Armed with a curveball that never has been better and backed by a strong defense, Lynn pitched a five-hit shutout to lead the Cardinals to a 6-0 victory over the New York Yankees. He walked two, struck out three and allowed only one runner to reach third base.
As strong as he was, he still had to persuade manager Mike Matheny to let him go out for the ninth. At 116 pitches after the eighth, Lynn asked Matheny for nine pitches in the ninth. It actually took 10 before the big right-hander got Brian Roberts to fly out to left for the final out. Lynn finished with his career-high pitch count by two, and went over 115 for the fifth time since the start of 2013.
"It took a little deliberating," Matheny said. "I wanted to make sure how he was feeling. He's a guy that we're probably least concerned when it starts coming to the higher pitch counts. But he did all right. He made a strong plea and we had a deal. If somebody gets on base, he's done. Fortunately, he didn't make me stick to my word."
"I felt good enough to do it or I wouldn't have asked for it," Lynn said.
"It's been a big deal for him (to get a complete game), something that he's talked a lot about," Matheny added. "We're all happy for him."
Lynn got the game ball, heartfelt congratulations from his catcher, Yadier Molina and, in a postgame interview, a heap of shaving cream to the head courtesy of Jason Motte.
And from Adam Wainwright, who has eight shutouts and 18 complete games in his career, Lynn received a message. "It's about time," Lynn said the Cardinals' ace told him.
Lynn said Wainwright regularly calls him out about his absence of nine-inning outings. He's partly joking, partly motivating. "He thinks that I'm too good not to have one," Lynn said.
Lynn was plenty good enough "right from the top" to shut down New York, Matheny said. Lynn put the Yankees down in order in the first and gave up a leadoff double in the second but then induced three weak grounders. He walked two in the fourth but escaped any damage when the Cardinals turned their only double play. He also allowed the leadoff batter to reach in the sixth and eighth, but neither time did the Yankees send a man to third.
Lynn said the keys were being able to use his curve and facing a team that was unfamiliar with him. "They were caught off guard a little bit by the sinker and not expecting me to use it as much as I did," he said.
Added Matheny: "Something he had from the top was one of the best breaking balls he's had. He could throw it for strikes. He didn't have to sit out there and keep heaving sinkers. He could use his secondary pitches, mostly that breaking ball in tough counts. Makes a big difference. Makes that 91-, 94-mph sinker that much better."
Lynn improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.13, the lowest it's been after a start since last June.
3 UP
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-- Kolten Wong. He went 0 for 4 but who cares with defense like he played. The rookie second baseman made no fewer than four excellent plays, the most unusual coming when he fielded Jacoby Ellsbury's grounder and out-raced him to first base. Wong had no better choice because the grounder had pulled Matt Adams off first. Wong also made a diving catch in foul territory, started a nifty 4-6-3 double play and made a nice stop on a grounder up the middle, then watched Matt Adams make a diving catch at first while somehow managing to keep his foot on the base long enough to record the out.
-- Home runs. Allen Craig nicked Alfonso Soriano's glove and barely cleared the fence in right for his fifth of the season, and Matt Holliday lofted his third 421 feet to center as the Cardinals enjoyed their ninth multi-homer game of the season. They still rank last in the NL with 28 homers and have yet to hit three in a game. By comparison, home-run leader Toronto has nine games with at least three homers. The Cardinals' power could be coming, though. Two of their multi-homer games have come in the past week.
-- Cardinals' 3-4 hitters. Holliday and Adams led the offense as they combined for six hits and a walk in eight trips to the plate, totaling three runs and two RBI. After a scoring decision took away a double from Adams on Tuesday morning, he came back with a ground-rule, two-base hit in the third inning against Yankees starter David Phelps.
3 DOWN
-- Ailing hurlers. Of the three Cardinals pitchers on the disabled list, none look close to returning. Lefty Kevin Siegrist just went on the DL on Saturday, so he's at least 12 days away. Siegrist, out with a forearm strain, said Tuesday he is unsure when he will start throwing again. Lefty Tyler Lyons is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday, but don't count on it. He played catch in the outfield Tuesday but has yet to get back on a mound since he experienced left shoulder discomfort in his last start. Joe Kelly, out since April 17 with a left hamstring injury, has been able to play long toss but remains in a holding pattern. He doesn't know when he will be cleared to jog.
-- Base running. An early-season issue has reappeared in the first two games on the homestand. On Monday, Wong over-slid third base when he would have had it stolen and ended up costing the Cardinals a run. On Tuesday, Holliday was an unfortunate victim when, on first after a single, he was struck in the leg by a hard shot from Adams that ended the fourth inning. Adams, at least, still was credited with a single.
-- Jon Jay. After earning the start in center field with a 2-for-2 showing Monday, he went 0 for 4 and did not get the ball out of the infield, lowering his batting average to .283.
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