Ride the workhorse: Lynn's stellar outing gives Cards' pen a breather
ST. LOUIS -- Activity began in the Cardinals' bullpen when Lance Lynn started nearing 100 pitches in the seventh inning Sunday night.
When the right-hander retired Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias and pinch-hitter Victor Martinez to strand James McCann on second base, reliever Seth Maness returned to his seat.
Lynn certainly wasn't concerned about his pitch count in an outing that ended with a standing ovation after two one-out walks in the eighth, thanks in part to a shrinking strike zone. Mike Matheny said he would have been willing to leave his starter in for several more pitches, though closer Trevor Rosenthal still would have pitched the ninth in the critical 2-1 win.
"We always evaluate what we see, evaluate what we got and evaluate how everybody is and if this is our best chance we have right now regardless of the pitch count," Matheny said. "It's not necessarily an easy decision, but he's our guy right now and he deserves to get that opportunity."
Maness believes Lynn gets stronger the later he goes into games, and the 28-year-old agrees. Lynn gladly accepts the "workhorse" label from his teammates and coaches, even if he just considers it part of his job.
"I feel like that's usually how I roll," said Lynn in regard to getting stronger as the game went on. "72 (pitches after 4 innings) and then I wasn't really paying attention. I was just trying to get people out."
Detroit's quality lineup and aggressive approach didn't stop Lynn from recording seven strikeouts for the fifth time in eight starts this season. He ranks fifth in MLB with 10.73 strikeouts per nine innings and his home run rate of 0.37 per nine innings ranks 12th among qualified starters.
With or without those numbers, St. Louis desperately needed Lynn to give the bullpen some rest at the end of a busy week, including 6 1/3 innings of work in a 4-3 loss to Detroit the day before. He stepped up to embrace the role for his longest outing of the season, and Maness threw only one pitch to induce a double play, bridging the gap to Rosenthal.
Of course, Lynn would have preferred to finish the job himself, as he did in the sixth when he struck out J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes to strand Kinsler on second. Maness said Lynn's perpetual resistance to leaving the mound should be admired, especially in a rotation with two 23-year-olds.
"Definitely that mentality, I feel like (it) reflects on other guys," Maness said. "Other guys see that out there, 'OK, he's going in, I'm going to try to go in and do the same thing.'"
That could make for a lot of arguments Matheny wouldn't mind having.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
