Los Angeles, CA – Lance Lynn tossed six scoreless frames to guide the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a three-game set.
Lynn (7-1) gave up just two hits and struck out nine to pick up the win.
"Lance had a good fastball, and that set the tone. He was sharp tonight, he had good movement and good location. He kept them off balance," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.
David Freese went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and three RBI and Allen Craig added a pair of hits, including a solo homer, and drove in three for the Cardinals, winners in four of their last five games.
Freese returned to the lineup following a brief three-game absence after receiving stitches to close a cut on his right hand earlier in the week.
Chris Capuano (1-3) was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- on six hits over five-plus innings to absorb the loss.
The Cards scored one run in the second and two in the third to go up 3-0.
In the second, Jon Jay reached first on an Adrian Gonzalez throwing error before Freese roped a double off the wall in left field. Carl Crawford fired the ball to shortstop Nick Punto, who turned and delivered a strike to A.J. Ellis at the plate. Jay, though, bulldozed over Ellis as the ball arrived and touched the plate safely to give the Cards the early lead.
Despite the brutal collision, Ellis remained in the game.
Craig's two-run double in the third scored Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran to give St. Louis a three-run edge. Carpenter singled and Beltran walked to set the table for Craig, who smoked a double to left-center wall.
Craig's solo blast in the fifth made it 4-0, and Freese gave the Cards a six- run lead with a two-run shot in the sixth.
Yadier Molina added a sacrifice fly in the seventh accounted for the final margin.
"Craig and Freese hurt us. It was a tough matchup for Capuano. Lance had good stuff, we just didn't do anything tonight. We didn't have good chances, and they piled it on," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.
Game Notes
Lynn allowed just three base runners ... St. Louis improved to 17-8 on the road this season ... Friday's contest marked the first in a stretch of 20 games in 20 days for the Dodgers ... Crawford has hit safely in six of his last seven games.
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