St. Louis, MO – Lance Lynn pitched seven strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals capped a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 3-1 win.
Lynn (12-5) gave up just one run on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts to snap a two-start losing streak for the Cardinals, who have won four straight and six of seven. Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay each drove in a run and scored once, while Matt Adams added an RBI in the win.
"I've got to pitch better than I've been pitching," said Lynn. "When you pitch better, better things happen and that's just the way it is. But you look at this team and I love the guys in this clubhouse and I love being in this city, and I want to play good for them."
Erik Kratz drove in the lone run of the game for the Phillies, who have dropped their past five games. Kyle Kendrick (9-7) had won his previous two starts, but suffered the loss on Thursday after giving up all three runs on five hits with a pair of walks and one strikeout in six innings of work.
"We didn't score any runs," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "You know, Kyle pitched six inning and gave up three runs, you can't ask for much more from your starter, and the relief pitching was great. We just couldn't get any runs."
The Phils got a leadoff double from Jimmy Rollins to start the game and Michael Young followed with a walk, but Chase Utley struck out and Delmon Young lined a pitch back to the pitcher and Michael Young was caught off first to end the frame.
St. Louis got all its runs in the third inning as Pete Kozma led off with a single and moved to second on Lance Lynn's sacrifice bunt. Carpenter singled home Kozma and scored when Jay followed with a triple. Two batters later, Adams hit a single to score Jay for a 3-0 lead.
Philly got one back in the fourth as Kratz's single scored Laynce Nix, who had reached base earlier in the frame on a fielder's choice, to make it a 3-1 game.
In the seventh, Kratz singled with one out, but Steve Susdorf hit into a double play to end the frame.
Trevor Rosenthal gave up a leadoff single to Rollins in the eighth, but retired the next three batters to end the frame.
Darin Ruf led off the ninth with a single, but Nix hit into a fielder's choice, John Mayberry struck out as did Kratz as Edward Mujica picked up his 30th save of the season.
Game Notes
Lynn moved to 2-0 in three outings against the Phillies ... Kendrick fell to 5-2 in 10 games against the Cardinals ... The Cardinals won five of the seven games against the Phillies this season ... The Cardinals didn't get a man on base after the fourth inning ... The Phillies play in Detroit for three games starting on Friday ... The Cardinals hit the road for the next 11 games, starting in Atlanta on Friday.
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