With a Brewers loss early Wednesday afternoon, the Cardinals needed a win against the Reds to move one step closer into first place in the NL Central.
On the mound for the Reds:Â Johnny Cueto.
On the mound for the Cardinals:Â Lance Lynn.
And Lynn out-dueled the Cy-Young candidate as the Cardinals pounded the Reds’ ace in a 7-3 victory.
It was a slow start for both teams early on, as stranded runners were frequent throughout the first few innings of the game.
In the bottom of the third, Matt Holliday doubled to center-field, scoring Jon Jay, who increased his hitting streak to 12 games, as the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead. It was the eighth game in a row in which the Cardinals scored first, and they were just getting started.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Cardinals piled on the hits, and runs, and knocked Cueto out of the game. After Jay had reached on an infield single, Holliday was hit by a pitch. With two outs and two runners on, Matt Adams had a great at-bat, eventually walking to make the bases loaded. Up to the plate stepped Jhonny Peralta, who just last night set the Cardinals’ all-time record for home runs by a shortstop in a season.
And while he didn’t hit a grand slam, he still delivered in a big way.
Peralta drove a ball into right field, scoring all three men on base. Peralta had a double, and the Cardinals had themselves a 4-0 against their heated NL Central rivals.
Lynn continued to roll, allowing only four hits in seven innings. He also only walked two, and struck out five, as he continues to roll over the past few weeks. The game marked the ninth straight start Lynn allowed three or fewer runs; in this case, allowing zero on the night. Eight of his last nine starts have also been quality starts. Lynn also has a 2.78 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 158 2/3 innings this season.
Matt Carpenter would add onto the lead for the Cardinals in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Oscar Taveras and making it 5-0 Cardinals.
Before the eighth inning could start, a severe thunderstorm made its way into St. Louis, delaying the game for nearly an hour.
When the game resumed, Lynn’s day was done, and the bullpen did the rest of the work.
Veteran Randy Choate and young reliever Carlos Martinez took care of pitching duties for the remainder of the game.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Peter Bourjos, who had entered a half inning prior, tripled to center field, scoring Daniel Descalso, who had doubled earlier in the night. The triple gave the Cardinals a 6-0 lead. Jay would later score Bourjos, making it 7-0, as the collapse of the Reds continued.
In the ninth, Martinez was back out on the mound, and the Reds began to make things interesting, eventually scoring three runs to make it 7-3. Martinez was eventually taken out, and the overworked closer Trevor Rosenthal entered the game.
And he stopped the Reds’ rally dead in its tracks.
St. Louis defeated their rival 7-3 to complete the sweep, and a big sweep with the postseason just weeks away. They improve to 69-57, as the Reds drop to 61-66.
The win puts St. Louis right at Milwaukee’s doorstep as August is in its second half, and shows that Lance Lynn, who notched his 14th win of the season, is an underrated force in the Cardinals’ rotation.
St. Louis has an off day Thursday, and starts a six game road trip Friday, starting against the Phillies. Adam Wainwright will get the start.
(AP Photo/Scott Kane)
1 comment
I hope Miller has a good outing, he is due.
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