PITTSBURGH _ At a time of year when his performance could help the Cardinals determine whether they will be buyers or they will sell him, Lance Lynn got stronger as the game got later on his way to the kind of game expected from him.
In his first start of the second half, Lynn kept the Pittsburgh Pirates scoreless and even contributed a key hit in the Cardinals' 4-0 victory Saturday night at PNC Park. For the first time since mid-May Lynn collected his second consecutive quality start, and until he was removed in the seventh inning was getting better it seemed with each passing out.
Tommy Pham contributed three hits and the bullpen minimized drama.
A day after a walk-off loss put the Cardinals closer in the standings to the fourth-place Pirates than the second-place Cubs in the National League Central, the Cardinals gained some distance on the Bucs. They won't leave Pittsburgh behind them. After Trevor Rosenthal had his second dominate outing in as many days, lefty Tyler Lyons pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the Cardinals' first shutout at PNC Park since September 2015.
Until Lynn (8-6) got involved with the offense in the fifth inning, he held a 1-0 lead into the middle of the game. Jedd Gyorko provided the lead with an RBI single giving him the first three RBIs of the second half for the Cardinals, and Pham scored it meaning he had two of the Cardinals' first three runs of the second half. By the time Lyons got a fly ball to end the game, the offense had become more democratic. Pham had his third consecutive multi-hit game, but Matt Carpenter also had two hits.
The top of the Cardinals' order went 5 for 8.
Lynn allowed eight hits but erased two of them with double plays, and only one of the hits he allowed went for extra bases. That didn't happen until the 25th of the 26 batters he faced.
