Lance Lynn is enjoying his reunion with the St. Louis Cardinals, having recorded his 2,000th strikeout and pitching in his 2,000th career inning this season.
“When you’re old and you play long enough, you get the luxury of having fun milestones like that,” said Lynn, who previously was with the Cardinals from 2011-17. “I’ve had a few this year. Obviously, it’s been great to be able to do it in St. Louis, where it all started. That was one of the reasons why it was enticing to come back to hit those milestones here.”
Lynn will add to his statistical pile when he starts Tuesday against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a four-game series. The Cardinals won the opener 4-0 on Monday.
In his first start since July 30, Lynn (6-4, 3.96 ERA) held the Cincinnati Reds to one run on five hits in five innings on Wednesday after recovering from a right knee injury.
“I love watching him pitch,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Fiery dude. Yells at everything. The way he goes about it ignites a little fire in everybody.”
Lynn struck out seven Cincinnati batters and walked one in a game the Cardinals eventually won 2-1.
The 37-year-old veteran is 0-0 with a 2.89 ERA in two starts against the Pirates this season. He is 7-9 with a 5.13 ERA in 26 career outings against Pittsburgh, including 24 starts.
Bailey Falter (8-7, 4.20 ERA) will start for the Pirates. He is coming off one of his best outings of the season, when he blanked the Miami Marlins for 7 1/3 innings on two hits on Wednesday. Falter struck out five and walked three.
“I thought the ability to get in there with the fastball and the slider on the inner half of the plate (was key),” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “I thought he did a really good job executing against his arm side. That’s about as good as we’ve seen him in two years, at a time where we needed a big start.”
Falter took a 4-2 loss to the Cardinals the only previous time he faced them this season, on June 12 in St. Louis. He allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out five and walking one in four innings.
In his career, he is 1-1 with a 4.08 ERA in four outings, including two starts, against the Cardinals.
The Pirates continued their preparations for next year by adding infield/outfield prospect Nick Yorke to their roster on Monday. He started at second base in the series opener and went 0-for-3.
“He’s a guy that we acquired at the (trade) deadline and has done really well in Triple-A all year long, and as we move forward the next two weeks, (he’s) someone we want to get a look at, because we think he’s going to be part of our future,” Shelton said.
Infielder Alika Williams was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to clear a roster spot for Yorke.
Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz sat out the Monday game with soreness related to his earlier ankle injury. He could return Tuesday.
“I think we’re going to battle with Oneil throughout probably the next couple years because of the significance of the injury,” Shelton said. “Continue to monitor him, see where he’s at. Didn’t feel that it was prudent to have him play (Monday).”
Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Nicolas exited the Monday contest with a side injury in the eighth inning after walking the only batter he faced.
–Field Level Media
