The Cardinals staked right-hander Lance Lynn to a 7-0 lead after four at-bats and Lynn scored his sixth straight victory, becoming the first Cardinals starter to win his first six starts since Bob Tewksbury in 1994. But there were some twists and turns along the way before the Cardinals posted a 9-6 win at Arizona.
First, though he allowed no runs, Lynn was not as sharp as he had been in his first five starts, when he gave up a total of six runs. He fanned seven but walked four on Monday and ran his pitch count to 91 by the end of the fifth.
With Lynn having qualified for the win, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny lifted him.
"(Monday) was a struggle," said Lynn. "I didn't have command. But I was able to get out of it. No harm, no foul."
But Matheny may have stayed with left-handed reliever J.C. Romero a batter too long as the Diamondbacks rallied for six runs in the sixth, five of them off Romero, who retired none of the five hitters he faced. Romero has given up seven runs in his last 1 1/3 innings after working scoreless ball in his first eight outings.
Right-handed reliever Fernando Salas, though he gave up three singles -- two of them scratch hits -- nevertheless started a good run of Cardinals relief, striking out three hitters out of four to keep the Cardinals ahead going into the seventh.
The Cardinals then reversed the momentum the way they had created it in the first place. Leading off the seventh, first baseman Allen Craig homered for the second day in a row and third baseman David Freese made it back-to-back for the second time in the game.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran and left fielder Matt Holliday had hit consecutive homers in the third after shortstop Rafael Furcal had opened the game with a long, 441-foot home run. The Cardinals hadn't hit five homers in a game since 2007 when they had six.
Craig has knocked in nine runs in his five starts since coming off the disabled list. He banged his surgically-repaired knee trying to flag down an errant throw in the sixth and came out of the game in a double switch in the eighth, but said he was all right.
"No big deal," said Craig.
Matheny wasn't so sure, though. "We're keeping an eye on it," said Matheny. "He wasn't moving quite as good he was." Matheny did note, however, that Craig was strong enough to hit a home run in his final at-bat before leaving the game.
RHP Victor Marte, LHP Marc Rzepczynski and RHP Jason Motte went through the last three innings in scoreless fashion. Marte and Rzepczynski were perfect and Motte pitched around two singles, fanning two along the way. Cardinals pitchers fanned 13.
RHP Lance Lynn lowered his earned run average to 1.40 with five scoreless innings although he walked four. He had passed only seven in his first five starts but manager Mike Matheny thought it was a good idea to lift Lynn after five, even though he was pitching a shutout. "I'm thinking about his health, long-term," said Matheny. "His first year as a starter in the majors, he doesn't know what kind of grind he's in for."
SS Rafael Furcal hit his 30th leadoff homer in the first inning. His run scored meant that the Cardinals had scored in the first inning seven straight times, six of them by Furcal.
RHP Chris Carpenter, whom Lance Lynn is replacing in the rotation, is progressing but may not be pitching until July after battling an arm strength problem relative to a nerve issue. General manager John Mozeliak said, "The last word I got was that things went well (in treatment and his rehab). But as far as getting back on the mound, I haven't been given any timetable regarding that."
1B Matt Carpenter figures to get the start on Tuesday night against Arizona RHP Ian Kennedy. 1B Allen Craig tweaked his right knee, operated on last November, in the sixth inning on Monday.
1-0 Cardinals' record against both the National League Western Division (Arizona) and Eastern Division (Miami). They are 16-11 against the NL Central.
"A lot of things happened right for us (Monday). We just had one inning where the wheels fell off." Manager Mike Matheny, discussing the five-homer night by his team and a six-run sixth inning by Arizona.
