Cardinals 7, Twins 5: The Lance Lynn revenge tour is indefinitely postponed

Lance Lynn dug the Twins into a hole to start the game. Before the Twins were even able to bat, they had given up two runs. Lead off batter Tommy Pham took the count to 3-2 before singling. Jose Martinez also went to a full count before walking. Lynn then picked up two strikeouts, but not before a wild pitch allowed the runners to both advance. Dexter Fowler hit a single into center field, and both men scored. Damage done. The Twins did get one back in their half of the inning, as a Max Kepler single with men on first-and-third allowed Brian Dozier to score.

In the second inning, both teams added a run to the scoreboard. Lynn was haunted by a walk to Francisco Pena, followed by two singles from Greg Garcia and Jose Martinez. The Twins scored in much the same way. Byron Buxton reached on a fielder’s choice, and then was advanced by a single by Gregorio Petit and scored by a Joe Mauer single.

Lance Lynn’s night ended early. At 82 pitches and only 46 strikes, he was replaced by Taylor Rogers to start the fourth inning, with the Twins down 3-2. Rogers held the Cardinals in the fourth, but got into trouble in the fifth inning. Two doubles, by Jose Martinez and Paul DeJong added another run to the board, and Matt Magill was called upon to finish the inning, stranding DeJong on third. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas was chased before the end of the fifth, but the Twins left two runners stranded, and did not score.

The Twins, however, did close the gap back up a bit in the sixth. Logan Morrison hit his fifth home run of the season, a no-doubter to left field. The Cards answered though, in the very next inning.

Ryan Pressly started the seventh by issuing two straight walks to Paul DeJong and Dexter Fowler, and then giving up a single to Jedd Gyorko that scored DeJong. Zach Duke, another former Cardinal, came into the game, and gave up a double to Matt Carpenter that scored Fowler.

Phil Hughes came into the game to start the eighth inning, for some reason, and gave up a solo dong to Tommy Pham on his third pitch. The Twins got a couple back in their half, and had a chance to turn the tide. Eddie Rosario walked, Mitch Garver singled, and then so did Logan Morrison. Morrison plated his second RBI of the game, and put runners on first-and-third. Pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman walked to load the bases, and St. Louis closer Bud Norris came on to attempt a five out save. He promptly struck out Eduardo Escobar, and faced Gregorio Petit. A wild pitch allowed all three runners to advance, and put the tying run in scoring position. Unfortunately, Petit couldn’t do much, and gounded out to the shortstop to end the threat.

In the ninth inning, Addison Reed gave up a two-out double to Matt Carpenter, and allowed the runner to advance to third on a wild pitch. Fortunately, he was able to strike out Francisco Pena, and escape the inning unscathed.

The Twins did nothing of note in the ninth inning, and the game ended with the Twins down by two runs.

Still, they took three out of four from a pretty good St. Louis team this season. I can’t complain too much about that.

STUDS:

Eddie Rosario: 3-for-4, walk, run scored

Logan Morrison: 2-for-3, walk, 2 RBI, HOME RUN!!!

Gregorio Petit: 1-for-2, 2 walks

DUDS:

Brian Dozier: 0-for-5, 2K

Byron Buxton: 0-for-3, K

Ehire Adrianza: 0-for-3, K

Lance Lynn: 3 IP, 3 runs, 4 walks

Ryan Pressly: 1 IP, 2 runs, 2 walks

Roll Call

COTG

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