Lynn Pitches Cardinals To Win, Pirates Pound Cubs

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Published on July 10 2017 6:25 am
Last Updated on July 10 2017 6:26 am

By ESPN

Lance Lynn said he felt terrible before his start on Sunday.

He made the New York Mets feel even worse.

Lynn pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong and Luke Voit homered as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets 6-0.

"The sinker was good, mixed the ball in and out," Lynn said. "I was able to keep them off-balance with the fastball and change speeds with it so it worked out well."

It was Lynn's longest outing since May 23, when he threw 123 pitches in eight scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss to Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

Lynn (7-6) had a season-low two strikeouts, but he needed just 93 pitches while facing two batters over the minimum. He did not allow a runner past first and lowered his ERA to 3.61.

"He just came after hitters," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "There wasn't a whole lot of guessing about what he was going to do today. You could tell from the pop-ups he was using the top of the zone well, but when he needed to make a pitch on the inside corner, he had it."

Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the eighth and John Brebbia pitched a scoreless ninth as the Cardinals finished a 6-4 homestand and moved into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for second place in the National League Central.

Steven Matz (2-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since June 3. He struck out a season-low one.

"We're not hitting, we're not pitching," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "When you don't pitch the game looks rugged. When you don't hit, they look even worse."

DeJong finished 2 for 4 and is 10 for his last 13 and is the first rookie and first Cardinals player in the modern era to have seven extra base hits in a three-game series.

"It was one of those days where I was seeing the ball well again," DeJong said. "I wasn't doing too much thinking. Overall, it's a pretty good series."

Matt Carpenter reached and scored twice. Yadier Molina had his second RBI in two games.

Pham drove a 3-1 pitch from Matz the other way over the right-field wall to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the third. It was Pham's 11th homer of the season and first in six games.

DeJong's homer, his third in three games, made it 4-0 in the fourth. Voit greeted Seth Lugo with an opposite field homer, his third in his last seven games, to right to make it 5-0.

Carpenter led off the first with a double and scored to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. It was the first time in six games that the Cardinals scored in the opening inning and it broke Matz's 17-inning scoreless streak, the second-longest of his career.

 

Pirates 14, Cubs 3

While the Chicago Cubs packed up quickly for the All-Star break, Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" played over the speakers in the home clubhouse at Wrigley Field. "Don't worry about a thing," Marley sang, "Cause every little thing gonna be alright."

The Cubs are hoping Marley is right, but there was no sign of any turnaround on Sunday.

Jon Lester surrendered 10 runs in the first inning of the shortest start of his 12-year career, and the Cubs stumbled to a 14-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"It kind of speaks for itself," Lester said. "It's embarrassing."

Chicago (43-45) heads into the break with a losing record for the first time since it was 40-54 in 2014. The reigning World Series champions also trail NL Central-leading Milwaukee by 5 1/2 games after the Brewers held on for a 5-3 victory against the New York Yankees.

The Cubs were 53-35 at the break a year ago.

"We are frustrated," manager Joe Maddon said. "We're not playing our game."

Francisco Cervelli matched a career high with five RBI and Jordy Mercer drove in three runs as the Pirates closed out a 5-2 road trip with their fifth win in six games. All-Star Josh Harrison homered in the ninth and Chad Kuhl pitched three innings of one-run ball in an emergency start after Jameson Taillon was scratched due to flu-like symptoms.

Pittsburgh sent 15 batters to the plate in its highest-scoring inning since it got 10 in the seventh against Colorado on May 17, 2009. It was the first time it scored at least 10 in the first inning since June 8, 1989, against Philadelphia.

"It was a lot of fun," manager Clint Hurdle said. "This team, we have been able to rally in a lot of different ways."

Cervelli hit his third career grand slam into the basket in left with two out. McCutchen followed with a drive to left-center for his 17th homer, chasing Lester and drawing a smattering of boos from a frustrated crowd of 41,604 at Wrigley Field.

"Throw up 10 like that in the first inning, it was huge," McCutchen said. "We kept going, we kept pushing and didn't stop there in the first."

Lester (5-6) was charged with four earned runs and six hits. He also struggled in his previous outing, allowing six runs in five innings in a loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

The left-hander was hurt by an error on third baseman Kris Bryant, who booted David Freese's one-out grounder with runners on first and second. Josh Bell then hit an RBI single, Jose Osuna doubled home two more runs and Mercer made it 5-0 with a two-run single.

"If I make that play, the game is completely different," Bryant said.

Kuhl allowed two hits and walked three on just two days' rest after he pitched a career-high seven innings in a 6-3 win at Philadelphia on Thursday night. A.J. Schugel (1-0), the second of three Pittsburgh relievers, pitched three innings for the win.


Rockies 10, White Sox 0

Kyle Freeland just absorbed the thundering cheers as he tipped his cap and headed off the mound.

"A ton of fun," he said.

Easy to see why: The hometown kid turned in one of the best pitching performances ever at Coors Field.

The rookie left-hander came within two outs of the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at the hitter-friendly park before surrendering a crisp single to Melky Cabrera as Colorado beat the Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Sunday.

Freeland, who was born and raised in Denver, struck out the first batter of the ninth inning and then allowed Cabrera's hit to left field on a 2-2 count.

He would make the same pitch again.

"He just muscled it out," said Freeland, who struck out a career-high nine, walked three and hit a batter.

Cabrera even applauded for Freeland after the hit.

"He was changing speeds and just did a nice job on the mound," Cabrera said.

The 24-year-old Freeland (9-7) threw 126 pitches. Reliever Jordan Lyles got the last two outs to complete the one-hitter.

Mired in a three-game slump, Freeland decided to mix up his game plan by mixing around his fastball. It worked.

To also change things up, his father stood the entire game. It worked as well.

"I'm at a loss for words, for the way he held his composure for the whole game," Don Freeland said.

Dad wasn't the least bit nervous as the no-hit bid went along.

"I talked to myself, `Keep it down. Keep it down. Don't give in. Make him earn it," he said.

Kyle Freeland was trying to throw the second no-hitter in Coors Field history. Hideo Nomo accomplished the feat in 1996 when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only no-hitter in Rockies history was thrown by Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010 at Atlanta.

Edinson Volquez of the Miami Marlins pitched the lone no-hitter in the majors this season, doing it last month against Arizona.

Freeland even had an RBI single in the seventh for the Rockies' last run.

Freeland watched the end from the dugout. When it was over, his teammates on the bench let him walk alone toward the foul line to greet the winning Rockies coming off the field -- and to soak in another cheer from a crowd that included his parents.

"Incredible," Freeland said. "The fans were great."

Pat Valaika drove in five runs, including a three-run homer as part of a five-run sixth that turned a 2-0 lead into a rout. Charlie Blackmon also hit a solo homer.

Rockies left fielder Gerardo Parra had the play of the day in the eighth as he sprinted for Yolmer Sanchez's blooper in short left and then went into a head-first dive to snare the ball. Parra pointed at Freeland, who pumped his fist and tipped his cap in appreciation.

Carlos Rodon (1-2) allowed six runs over 5 1/3 innings in his third start of the season. He began the season on the disabled list with left biceps bursitis.

"Today was all Freeland and the Rockies," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said.

Freeland attended the University of Evansville and was taken by the Rockies with the eighth overall pick in 2014. His favorite players as a kid were Todd Helton, Larry Walker, the Blake Street Bombers, along with pitchers Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook.

To Nolan Arenado, there's no doubt where this would've ranked had Freeland closed out the no-hit attempt.

"One of the greatest things in Rockies' history," Arenado said. "It would have been a great story, but at the end of the day it's still a great story."


Sunday, July 9 Scoreboard

Milwaukee 5, New York Yankees 3

Houston 19, Toronto 1

Pittsburgh 14, Chicago Cubs 3

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 3

Washington 10, Atlanta 5

Philadelphia 7, San Diego 1

Baltimore 11, Minnesota 5

St. Louis 6, New York Mets 0

Los Angeles Angels 3, Texas 0

Colorado 10, Chicago White sox 0

Miami 10, San Francisco 8 (F/11)

Seattle 4, Oakland 0

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Kansas City 2

Cincinnati 2, Arizona 1

Detroit 5, Cleveland 3

 

Monday, July 10 Schedule

No games scheduled

 

Tuesday, July 11 Schedule (Time Central)

All-Star Game

American League at National League, 7 p.m.