By Rick Hummel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch –
ST. LOUIS — Lance Lynn’s last three starts had been, in a word, duds, at least compared to his impressive body of work for the first two-plus months of the season. During those three recent appearances, Lynn had given up 25 hits and 17 runs and had walked seven in only 15 1/3 innings.
(PHOTO: St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina catches a pop foul off the bat of the Colorado Rockies’ Michael Cuddyer in first-inning action on Thursday, July 5, 2012, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies, 6-2.)
And the first two innings of Thursday night’s game against Colorado hardly were auspicious either. Lynn danced around two walks in the first inning but, of the Rockies’ first eight hitters overall, four of them reached base.
The last of those, Jonathan Herrera, lined a ball off the right-field wall for a double with one out in the second. Right fielder Carlos Beltran made a good play on the carom, inducing the lead runner to stop at third.
It was here that Lynn, who will be on the National League All-Star squad next week, assessed his situation and did something about it. Lynn took the “gimme” by striking out opposing pitcher Christian Friedrich, who has only one career hit, and then got Dexter Fowler on a sharp comebacker to the mound.
From there, Lynn navigated mostly smooth waters the rest of his trip. He allowed only two singles the next four innings and completed his six-inning stint by holding the Rockies scoreless, fanning seven and looking every bit the All-Star. Long-awaited victory No. 11 came his way when the Cardinals raked Colorado rookie Friedrich for five runs in the fifth inning, two on Beltran’s double, as they coasted to a 6-2 victory at still steamy Busch Stadium (102 degrees at game time).
Before a paid house of 41,751, the Cardinals won three of four games in the series, marking their first series win at home since June 12-14 when they took two of three from the Chicago White Sox.
Lynn, who required 45 pitches for the first two innings, needed just 56 over the next four as he threw 74 called strikes out of 101 pitches for the night.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said the troika of catcher Yadier Molina, pitching coach Derek Lilliquist and himself had noticed that Lynn was getting his hand on the side of the ball rather than on top of it as he released a pitch in the first two innings.
“It was affecting his sinker and his slider,” said Matheny. “His breaking ball was side to side and his sinker was kind of running off the plate. Sometimes, your slot changes without you really knowing it. He was getting down underneath it and pushing out of the (strike) zone and he couldn’t figure out why.
“He did a nice job of making that in-game adjustment. Not many guys can do that.”
Lynn said he actually felt he had altered his grip on the pitch to Fowler to end the second inning. Once he got back to the dugout, Molina, Lilliquist and Matheny told him to keep that position and “roll with it the rest of the game and I was able to do that.”
Matheny said, “I thought the ball was jumping out of his hand. His stuff was as good as any day he’s had this season.
“It was nice for his confidence sake, just to get back on a positive note.”
Lynn insisted he hadn’t lost any confidence.
“After the first two (innings), I finally got back to where I felt comfortable and the ball was coming out like it used to,” he said. “That was a good feeling.
“I felt really good the last couple of outings. I was just off a little mechanically. Giving up two-out homers is a big problem, especially when they cost you three or four runs.”
After six innings, he turned the game over to a mostly revitalized Cardinals’ bullpen, with lefthanded rookie Barret Browning pitched his fourth perfect inning in succession, retiring three switch hitters who were batting righthanded.
“That’s my job to get past batters, lefthander or righthander, superstar or a guy that’s a rookie,” said Browning. “My job is to put zeroes up.”
Victor Marte retired the first two men in the eighth before he gave up a single and Tyler Colvin’s third homer of the series, a 422-foot blast to right.
Jason Motte gained his 19th save after Mitchell Boggs had allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth.
The Cardinals staked Lynn to a lead in the first but he had little breathing room until the fifth.
Friedrich had retired seven in a row before David Freese singled to start the fifth, Matt Carpenter walked on a foul-count pitch and Lynn, hoping to sacrifice, walked on four pitches instead to load the bases with nobody out.
“I was kind of surprised,” said Lynn.
With a chance to blow the game open, the Cardinals complied, with a little help from Friedrich, who walked Jon Jay to force in one run after he had struck out Rafael Furcal. Matt Holliday, who is 34 for his last 68 (.500), singled for the second run, leaving the bases still jammed as manager Jim Tracy lifted Friedrich for righthander Tyler Chatwood.
Beltran doubled off the left-center wall to send in Lynn and Jay. The RBIs were Nos. 64 and 65 for Beltran, who leads the National League.
Carpenter, making his first career start at second base, had a single and two walks and had only one chance, when he received a forceout throw at second base in the sixth before the runner could get to him.
So, basically, no one knows whether he can play second base or not.
“I was wanting the ball to be hit to him,” said Matheny. “I had all the confidence in the world he was going to make the plays.”
Carpenter said, “I wasn’t too concerned but I thought there might be some nerves out there. I was so busy with trying to make sure I was in the right place at the right time that that kind of consumed all my thoughts.”
