Lynn goes through pain to gain first win over Giants

[August 31, 2015]  (The Sports Xchange) - Lance Lynn went through the pain barrier to beat the Giants in a regular-season game for the first time on Saturday, shutting out San Francisco on six hits before spraining his right ankle in the eighth inning of a 6-0 victory for the St Louis Cardinals.

"It didn't feel good at the beginning," Lynn told reporters of the injury. "It doesn't feel great right now, either, but there's not a ton of swelling, I hear that's a good thing."

First baseman Brandon Moss ignited a four-run fifth inning with a leadoff triple and catcher Yadier Molina capped the uprising with a two-RBI single as the Cardinals evened their three-game series with the Giants after a 5-4 loss on Friday.

A sixth win in seven allowed St Louis (83-46) to stay well clear in the National League Central, while the loss dropped the Giants to 69-60.
 

"The Cardinals are a tough team," Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong said. "You have to be pretty close to perfect to beat them. I was just OK today."

Lynn compiled a 6.33 ERA while losing his first four career starts against San Francisco, including a 2-0 setback at the hands of Vogelsong when the clubs met earlier this month in St Louis.

But it was Lynn (11-8) who pitched the shutout this time around, allowing only two Giants to advance into scoring position in his seven-plus innings.

He walked two and struck out two.

"You have your teams that are nemeses," Lynn said of finally beating the Giants. "(The losing streak) was last year and the year before. This year it's not been the case."

The injury occurred when Giants pinch-hitter Juan Perez led off the eighth inning with a dribbler to the right of the mound. Lynn fielded the ball at the bottom of the hill, but turned his right ankle as he pivoted before making a throw.

He was able to walk off under his own power after spending a few minutes on the grass while being examined by the St Louis trainer. The Cardinals later labeled the injury minor.

"(I was) just sick when you see him go down like that because he's a tough guy," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

"At first I thought it was (his) knee, too, so once I saw him starting to move around a little bit, I never thought he was going to be walking off the field. That was huge.

"He's in there joking around about his non-athleticism right now. Good to hear. We don't know what that means except it's not a lot of the worst-case scenarios that were going through our minds."

No X-rays were scheduled.

(Compiled by John O'Brien)

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