Pirates 2 - 5 Cardinals
Final
  for this game

Lynn, Cardinals top Pirates

Jul 10, 2014 - 5:53 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Lance Lynn earned his 10th victory of the season with 6 2/3 solid innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2, on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

Lynn (10-6) scattered two runs on six hits and two walks while becoming the first Cardinals pitcher since Bob Gibson to post three consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins before the All-Star break.

"He's one of those guys that I think gets overlooked a lot," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Lynn. "Really threw a nice game for us."

Matt Adams went 3-for-5 with two RBI, Matt Holliday had two hits, two runs scored and another driven in, and Kolten Wong added a solo homer for the Cardinals, winners of the first three meetings of this four-game set.

The news was not all positive for St. Louis, as Yadier Molina exited early with a sprained right thumb. The All-Star catcher will be further evaluated on Thursday.

Pittsburgh dipped into its bullpen early since starter Brandon Cumpton (3-3) did not make it out of the fourth. Filling in once again for the injured Gerrit Cole, Cumpton was charged with four runs on nine hits and three walks.

"He wasn't sharp, fell behind in counts and the fastball was up more than down," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Neil Walker went 2-for-4 with a solo homer for the Pirates, who had won six of seven before losing the first two games of the series on walk-off homers.

With St. Louis leading 4-2 in the seventh, Lynn appeared to injure himself when he dove and missed a popped-up bunt off the bat of Chris Stewart. After a brief visit on the mound with manager Mike Matheny and the team trainer, Lynn stayed in and got pinch-hitter Matt Hague to ground into a double play.

Randy Choate relieved Lynn and stranded a runner on third, and in the bottom half, Tuesday's ninth-inning hero, Wong, homered for the second night in a row to give the hosts some insurance.

Seth Maness pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Trevor Rosenthal worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to notch his 27th save, thanks in part to Peter Bourjos taking away Russell Martin's deep shot to the wall in center to end the game.

"It was...a play that brought you to your feet," Matheny said.

Adams, who hit a walk-off homer on Monday, hit a gapper to left field in the top of the first and was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Matt Carpenter and Holliday, however, scored on the play to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Walker took Lynn deep to right in the second, and the teams traded runs from there.

Jhonny Peralta doubled in Holliday in the third, and Walker scored on a Jordy Mercer base hit the next half-inning.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth but only pushed one run across on Holliday's single to left field.

Game Notes

Gibson won 11, 11 and 12 games before the break from 1968-70 ... Three of Wong's four home runs this season have come in the last four games ... Before the game, the Pirates placed outfielder Starling Marte on the bereavement list ... Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 games.






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