INSIDE PITCH
Despite
spending nearly three weeks in the bullpen, where he was sent after struggling
for the better part of a month, right-hander Lance Lynn moved into the top five
in the National League in wins at 16 Wednesday night by blanking Houston for 6
1/3 innings in a 5-0 victory.
Lynn allowed just three hits and two walks and
only once allowed the Astros two runners in the same inning. Since emerging from
the bullpen, Lynn (16-7) has given up only one run in 12 1/3
innings.
"There was a major overhaul," said
manager Mike Matheny, who wasn't all that enamored for a while with Lynn's performance or
demeanor.
"He spent a lot of time with Chris Carpenter, talking about the finer points of your demeanor, of your tempo, how
you hold yourself on the mound. He didn't go down to the bullpen and sulk. He
tried to figure out how to make himself better."
Lynn, who admitted paying attention to
his pitching elders about his mound comportment, said, "That's part of the
learning process. You're going to have your times where you have bad outings.
You've just got not to let everyone know that you're not feeling good. They see
that and they're going to keep coming after you."
On the mechanical side, Lynn shortened his windup,
not unnecessarily going over his head before continuing his delivery.
Both third baseman David Freese and
catcher Yadier Molina belted his 20th home run, making this the first Cardinals
team to have five players with 20 or more homers in a season. Carlos Beltran
(29), Matt Holliday (27) and Allen Craig (21) already had reached that
figure.
Matheny said, "That is a stat I didn't
know. It's a pretty impressive statistic, with the long, rich history
here."
In the big picture, Matheny said the
presence of that many boppers didn't allow the opposition "a lot of room to
relax and take a breath. We've put in people's minds that if you back off at any
second, we've got quite a few guys who can put the ball over the
fence."
Molina, further cementing his
candidacy for National League Most Valuable Player, became the first Cardinals
catcher to hit 20 or more homers in a season since Ted Simmons had 21 in
1980.
"What a jump he's made," said Matheny.
"He's got everybody's attention all throughout the league now."
NOTES,
QUOTES
1B Lance Berkman, who
earlier this month had a second surgery to repair torn meniscus in his right
knee, hasn't given up hope of playing again this season. Berkman, who has felt
comfortable walking around, said, "I'm not ruling out a return by the end of the
regular season, the way it feels. But I'm not ruling it in, either. I'm hopeful
that if I can get the swelling calmed down and if I can get a little strength
back in there and if I can get in the batting cage and see how it feels there …
all these are big 'ifs,' but I don't think it's out of the realm of
possibility."
SS Rafael Furcal still is
on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his right elbow. He had a
platelet-rich plasma injection nearly two weeks ago and hasn't been cleared to
do much in the way of rehabilitation. Furcal said, "It's really boring right
now." But Furcal said he had been advised by the medical staff not to push his
recovery. "If you rush and you get hurt bad, then you have to have surgery and
you lose next year, too," Furcal said.
RHP Jake Westbrook,
recovering from a strained right oblique, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday,
said he felt no discomfort while working at "60 to 70 percent" and planned to
repeat the process Friday in Chicago. Then he hopes to resume pitching again
for the first time since Sept. 8. "It felt great. Awesome. It felt better than I
thought it was going to," Westbrook said.
RHP Mitchell Boggs fanned
the side in the eighth inning. That gave Boggs his National League-leading 31st
hold
RHP Jason Motte entered
in the ninth with the Cardinals leading by five runs but gained the save with
two strikeouts as he inherited a bases-loaded situation. Motte, at 37 saves,
trails Atlanta's
Craig Kimbrel by only one for the league lead.
By the
Numbers:
10-2 - RHP Lance Lynn's
record against National League Central Division teams this
year.
Quote to Note:
"I wouldn't want to just
limp around as a DH. If I can't get the thing back pretty close to where it's
100 percent, I'm not going to fool with it."
- 1B Lance Berkman,
coming off a second knee surgery when considering whether he would play in the
American League next year.
MEDICAL
WATCH
RHP Jake Westbrook
(strained right oblique) will miss a start or two but apparently will be able to
pitch again this season.
1B Lance Berkman (sore
right knee) underwent additional surgery Sept. 14 and was thought to be out for
the season, but he says he still wants to try to play.
RHP Chris Carpenter
(right shoulder surgery) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March
26, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 10. He threw for the first
time since March on June 13 and then threw another 40 pitches on June 15. He
threw to hitters for the first time June 22 but then had a setback June 25 when
he felt renewed weakness in the shoulder. He said it felt better the next day,
and he had an extensive throwing session off flat ground June 27. On June 28, he
was told he has thoracic outlet syndrome, which can cause, among its effects,
weakness in one's shoulder. He underwent what was believed to be season-ending
surgery July 19 to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome. After continued progress,
he is scheduled to pitch again for the Cardinals on Sept.
21.
SS Rafael Furcal (torn
ligament in right elbow) was placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 31 and is
out for the season. He might need Tommy John surgery, but he got a platelet-rich
plasma injection on Sept. 4 in the hopes of avoiding having to go under the
knife. As of Sept. 19, he still hadn't been able to do any baseball
activities.
RHP Kyle McClellan (torn
labrum in right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list May 18 due to a
strained right elbow, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 30. He
threw on flat ground for the first time July 3, but he subsequently felt
shoulder pain. He had season-ending shoulder surgery July
10.
Link to boxscore: St. Louis 5, Houston 0