Cardinals starter Lance Lynn did not have a good night on the mound on Thursday. The right-hander was unable to make out of the first inning against the Pirates, as he was tagged for seven runs (three earned) on six hits while recording two outs in the inning. He threw a whopping 41 pitches before getting yanked from the game.
Lynn (9-7) was able to retire the lead-off man in the first, but then allowed six consecutive batters to reach. That included a fielding error, as well as a two-run home run by Pedro Alvarez that busted the inning wide open.
This was the shortest start of Lynn's career, and the seven runs are a season-high. He was coming off of a six-inning shutout in his previous start. Even after this nightmare outing, Lynn still sports a fine 2.95 ERA this season.