Lynn shows vintage stuff in scoreless return
MIAMI -- Lance Lynn, who hadn't pitched in 18 days, picked up right where he left off in the Cardinals' 5-1 win on Thursday night at Marlins Park.
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The right-hander was on the 15-day disabled list with right forearm strain since June 8, but he returned to toss six scoreless innings on 92 pitches while allowing two hits, walking four and striking out six in the series finale.
"To go out there and walk four and not give up any runs is a good feeling," said Lynn, now 5-4 with a 2.84 ERA. "I was able to move the ball in and out and had good movement on all the pitches. I was able to mix it up when I needed to, so that was good."
Lynn cruised through three innings and danced out of danger in the other three.
Lynn stranded two Marlins in the third, left a runner on second in the fifth and escaped his biggest challenge in the sixth. With two out, none on and protecting a 1-0 lead, the 28-year-old issued consecutive walks to Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Bour. But he regrouped to strike out Marcell Ozuna to exit the frame unharmed and end his night.
"Early on, I had pretty good fastball command and as the game went on, I walked a few guys," Lynn said. "I walked [Stanton] -- it was pretty obvious what I was doing in the last inning -- and then I kind of got out of my rhythm when that happened. But that's just part of getting back out there and trying to stay in your rhythm."
Lynn's previous outing came on June 7 against the Dodgers and he exited with a right forearm strain after five innings and 98 pitches. Despite the layoff, manager Mike Matheny saw vintage Lynn.
"He had command and that heavy sink," he said. "The cutter was working well and he was climbing with the four-seamer, controlling counts and trusting his defense to make plays by pounding the zone."
Even better, Lynn reported no issues with the forearm following his comeback outing.
"My guess is they're going to say, 'OK, how is he recovering after this one?'" Lynn said. "But I'm not worried about it."