A two-hit game by Lance Berkman is not rare. The two hits being a double and a triple? Not so common. His last triple was on July 4, 2010, as an Astro. (He has 27 for his career if, like me, you were curious.) And seeing him zip his way around the bases to third last night? Hilarious. MLB, why was this not worthy of a video highlight?
Something that was worthy of a highlight was what Lance Lynn did — earned his first career save last night. He did so in dramatic fashion, as he allowed a lead-off single to Joe Thurston (yes, former Card Joe Thurston) and walked Dewaye Wise and Greg Dobbs. Bases-loaded, two outs, Cards with a 3-2 lead and Mike Stanton at the plate — who was 3 for 5 with an RBI? No problem. Strikeout and that’s a winner! And you can see the video of that here.
It was a nice, and necessary, win. (Necessary since the Brewers are playing the Astros this weekend before heading to St. Louis on Tuesday.) Matt Holliday continued his hot streak and slugged his fourth homer in his last five games. He’s hitting .375 in August with those five homers, seven RBI and a nice slugging percentage of 1.125.
Albert had a double as well, which is good. Maybe, finally, all three of the Cards sluggers can be hot at the same time.
In a game with only two runs allowed, obviously the pitching was very good. Jake Westbrook allowed both runs on six hits in his six innings of work. Mitchell Boggs pitched the seventh and earned the win, while Jason Motte retired the side in the eighth.
For Lance Lynn, it was first save in professional baseball — his last was while in college at Ole Miss. (Please note that spelling, Pat Parris at Fox Sports Midwest. Ole. No d!) And, interestingly, it turns out that pitching coach Dave Duncan had talked about moving Lynn into more more significant situations:
“I didn’t think it would be that soon,” said Duncan. “One-run game. His heart was beating a little fast. But sometimes you get put into a position where you don’t have a choice.
“I think he was out there long enough that he probably calmed down a little bit,” said Duncan.
An erratic starter when he was with the Cardinals earlier in the season, Lynn has grown into a weapon as a reliever. Lynn said, “I enjoy it. I’m a person that likes big situations, and I like to have the ball in my hand when the game’s on the line.”
Way to go, Wolfpup!
The Cards go for win No. 3 of the series tonight, with Chris Carpenter starting. Game time is 6:10 p.m. Central.
