The Milwaukee Brewers were scorching going into their first game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but a wonderful performance on the mound from Lance Lynn meant it was an end to their nine-game winning streak and an impressive 4-0 win for the Cards.
Lynn won his third start of the season (3-0, 4.00 ERA) with 11 strikeouts in 7 innings, allowing just three hits and three walks. The Brewers didn’t do much better after he left as Carlos Martinez came on for two innings, not allowing a single hit. The Cardinals had a lot more success against Matt Garza (0-2), getting nine hits off of him and four runs, with two homers for Jhonny Peralta and Jon Jay.
One head to head many were looking forward to was Lynn trying to toss the ball at Mark Reynolds, who has compiled a 1.231 slugging percentage in at-bats that end in fastballs this season going into the game, the best in the National League. Lynn has thrown the second-highest percentage of fastballs among qualified pitchers since the start of last season (74%). Reynlods came on to pinch hit for Garza,striking out.
Two home runs were all the Cardinals needed in this one: The first came from Peralta on a solo homer in the 2nd inning, his third of the season. The other came from Jay, his first of the season, taking Allen Craig and Peralta with him for the score. Matt Adams had a strong performance with 3-for-4 at the plate, carrying on with his strong start (.360) and Peralta was 2-for-4, improving to a less than impressive .150 this season.
Catcher Tony Cruz also had a multiple hit game, as the Cardinals had 11-for-35 at the plate. They did just about enough (1-for-4) with runners in scoring positions, while the Brewers couldn’t take advantage of the very few opportunities they had, missing out on all three chances. Carlos Gomez, Ryan Braun, and Jonathan Lucroy all finished with 0-for-4 at the plate without even drawing a single walk. Lynn allowed only three all game.
Not everything was perfect and smooth for the Cardinals, as Matt Carpenter (0-for-2, one walk) was ejected in the fifth inning. After striking out he said something to the umpire, who possibly started the entire altrecation. The Cardinals in general were very vocal in the game, which might not have won them any official’s love or respect, but with Lynn tossing the ball this way it doesn’t really matter if the umpire doesn’t give you too much love.