Lance Lynn Makes St. Louis Cardinals History, Tosses 1,000th Strikeout With Club

St. Louis Cardinals veteran Lance Lynn threw 6.0 scoreless innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, crossing the 1,000-strikeout threshold in his seventh season with the club.

Jun 30, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn (31) throws against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Cardinals veteran Lance Lynn dealt an absolute gem in Sunday's series finale against the Cincinnati Reds, but his performance did more than just set his team up for another victory.

Lynn went 6.0 innings deep against the Reds, allowing two hits, one walk and no runs while striking out six. Even though the Cardinals didn't give Lynn much run support, they still went on to win 2-0.

Three of the first five outs Lynn got were by way of the K, helping the 37-year-old make history.

Lynn got rookie infielder Noelvi Marte to strike out looking on three pitches for the second out of the second inning. That strikeout was the 1,000th of Lynn's Cardinals career, making him the sixth pitcher in franchise history to reach that milestone.

Congratulations Lance Lynn on 1,000 career strikeouts in a Cardinals uniform!

Lynn becomes just the 6th pitcher in team history to reach that milestone.#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/tyj1mK941t

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 30, 2024

By the end of the day, Lynn had punched out 1,003 batters while wearing a St. Louis uniform. He is 93 strikeouts away from taking over the No. 3 spot on the Cardinals' all-time leaderboards.

Lynn made his MLB debut during the 2011 season, earning a World Series ring to cap off his rookie year. He made his first All-Star appearance in 2012 and remained a key piece of the Cardinals' rotation for the next few seasons.

Even after missing all of 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Lynn returned to the mound in 2017 and picked up right where he left off. To that point in his career, Lynn was 72-47 with a 3.38 ERA having just turned 30 years old.

Lynn left the Cardinals in free agency in 2018, and he ultimately put up a career-worst 4.77 with the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees that season.

It didn't take long for Lynn to recover, however, considering he placed top-six in AL Cy Young voting three years in a row from 2019 to 2021. He revived his career with the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox, going 41-27 with a 3.42 ERA between 2019 and 2022.

Lynn's career looked like it was on its last legs in 2023, when he posted a 5.73 ERA with the White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cardinals were more than willing to bring Lynn back to St. Louis, though, and he has more than returned to form by going 4-3 with a 3.59 ERA midway through the season.

Including his time with all his other clubs, Lynn has racked up 1,990 strikeouts in his career. Within the next few weeks, Lynn could become the 88th member of MLB's 2,000 strikeout club.

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