Cardinals blank Reds to gain series split

Published 9:14 pm Sunday, June 30, 2024

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lance Lynn pitched six sparkling innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 on Sunday for a split of their four-game series.

Lynn (4-3) allowed two hits, struck out six and walked one.

Pedro Pagés had a career-high three hits for St. Louis, which closed out a 7-3 homestand.

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Cincinnati infielder Jonathan India extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a double in the third. He has at least one double in each of his last eight games.

Stuart Fairchild singled in the fifth to account for the Reds’ only other hit. He stole second but was stranded when Will Benson lined to right and Luke Maile struck out swinging.

Lynn recorded his 1,000th career strikeout with St. Louis, becoming the sixth pitcher to reach that mark with the franchise. He also fashioned his longest scoreless outing of the season.

“From pitch one, he attacked the zone. He just went after guys,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “The way the ball came out of his hand today was really special.”

Lynn did not have a runner reach third against him.

“Successful outings usually mean you get ahead and you stay ahead and you make quality pitches,” Lynn said.

Alec Burleson, who drove in the Cardinals’ first run, said Lynn took control right from the start.

“He set the tone, he did what he does best — go in there and fill up the zone with his fastball,” Burleson said. “It’s fun to play behind him.”

The Cardinals went ahead to stay in the fifth against Hunter Greene (5-4). Pagés singled and moved up on Masyn Winn’s one-out single. Pagés scored on Burleson’s single to right.

“Over the past month or so we’ve been carrying (some momentum) and it’s a lot of fun,” Burleson said.

Winn added a run-scoring double off Fernando Cruz in the sixth.

Greene (5-4) allowed four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two.

“I felt like I made some really good pitches,” Greene said. “I was constantly behind hitters, but I felt like I was able to figure it out.”

Lynn threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 21 batters. Ryan Helsley struck out two in a perfect ninth for his major league-high 30th save. Helsley has converted his last 30 opportunities, a franchise record.

“I try not to worry about numbers,” Helsley said. “That’s just something else that’s going to be on your mind and bothering you. I just try and focus on the game at hand.”

St. Louis concluded June with 17 wins, its most since going 18-8 in 2015 on the way to a 105-win campaign.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: C Iván Herrera began swinging a bat on Sunday and will catch a bullpen session over the next few days. He has missed the last 10 games with lower back tightness.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Graham Ashcraft (4-4, 5.45 ERA) takes on Yankees RHP Luis Gil (9-3, 3.15 ERA) in the opener of a three-game set on Tuesday in New York.

Cardinals: RHP Kyle Gibson (5-3, 3.70 ERA) will face Pittsburgh RHP Mitch Keller (9-4, 3.20 ERA) on Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Gibson is 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in four career starts against the Pirates.

Cardinals 2, Reds 0

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
India 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .278
De La Cruz ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .252
Candelario dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 .243
Steer 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .241
Fraley rf-cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .274
Marte 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .176
Fairchild cf 2 0 1 0 0 0 .236
a-Martini ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .209
b-Espinal ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .193
Benson lf-cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .190
c-Jordan ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .100
Maile c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .182
Totals 29 0 2 0 2 8

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Winn ss 4 0 2 1 0 0 .286
Burleson rf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .278
Carlson rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .198
Contreras dh 2 0 0 0 1 1 .262
Goldschmidt 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .225
Donovan lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .264
Arenado 3b 4 1 1 0 0 2 .262
Gorman 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .187
Pagés c 4 1 3 0 0 0 .191
Siani cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .234
Totals 31 2 7 2 2 10

Cincinnati 000 000 000_0 2 0
St. Louis 000 011 00x_2 7 0

a- for Fairchild in the 7th. b-lined out for Martini in the 7th. c-grounded out for Benson in the 8th.

LOB–Cincinnati 4, St. Louis 9. 2B–India (18), Winn (16). RBIs–Burleson (38), Winn (28). SB–Fairchild (11).

Runners left in scoring position–Cincinnati 2 (De La Cruz, Maile); St. Louis 6 (Siani 2, Donovan 2, Burleson 2). RISP–Cincinnati 0 for 3; St. Louis 2 for 7.

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Greene, L, 5-4 4 2-3 4 1 1 2 6 95 3.70
Moll 1 2 1 1 0 2 21 1.86
Cruz 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 4 3.82
Farmer 1 0 0 0 0 1 11 2.82
Díaz 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 4.75
St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Lynn, W, 4-3 6 2 0 0 1 6 79 3.59
Kittredge, H, 24 2-3 0 0 0 1 0 11 3.22
Romero, H, 25 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 14 2.68
Helsley, S, 30-31 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 2.61

Inherited runners-scored_Moll 3-0, Cruz 2-1, Romero 1-0. HBP–Greene 2 (Burleson,Contreras). WP–Greene.

Umpires–Home, Hunter Wendelstedt; First, Gabe Morales; Second, Sean Barber; Third, Charlie Ramos.

T–2:17. A–40,951 (44,494).