Cardinals Defeat Brewers 9-3; Lance Lynn Stellar as Starter

Lance Lynn came up big for the Cardinals as a lineup lacking the normal firepower put the hurt on Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf. Lynn allowed just 2 hits through 6.2 innings. With a fastball that topped out at 95 mph, Lynn punched out 8 Brewers and had more groundouts (5) than air outs (3). Lynn threw 100 pitches relying heavily on his fastball (62%) relative to his breaking balls (33%) and his changeup (5%). Due in part to the pickoff of Ryan Braun from first, Lynn faced just 2 batters more than the minimum during his time in the game.

Carlos Beltran led the way for the Cardinals offense hitting his second home run of the year in the 7th inning as part of a 3-for-5 afternoon. With 14 hits on the day, the Cardinals put the ball in play often and with authority. In addition to Beltran's 7th inning dinger, Shane Robinson contributed a home run in the 9th -- the first of his major league career.

The lopsided score belies the relatively close nature of the game as the Cardinals scored 6 in the 7th, 8th and 9th to put the game out of reach. Neither Mitchell Boggs nor Jason Motte could escape their innings unscathed but the Cardinals offense ensured that it wasn't of consequence.

The Cardinals are now 3-1 and head to Cincinnati for a 6:10pm game where Jake Westbrook will take on 2-1 Reds.