Cardinals Hurler Reaches Career Milestone; Phenom Ace Handed First MLB Loss

St. Louis is starting the second half on the right foot

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. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals are making all the right moves with nearly a week to go before the trade deadline and look ready to climb back to the top of the National League Central.

In Tuesday night's nail-biting victory against the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cardinals looked like a team ready to compete against anyone.

The significant divisional game victory was exciting as it marked major career milestones for a veteran Cardinals hurler and a rising phenom ace.

Cardinals right-handed pitcher Lance Lynn recorded his career No. 2,000 strikeout in five scoreless innings pitched in Tuesday's 2-1 victory against Pittsburgh. On the other hand, Pirates RHP Paul Skenes earned his first loss as a Major League Baseball starting pitcher.

Lynn has posted a 141-99 record with a 3.76 ERA, 2,000-to-700 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a .243 batting average against and a 1.28 WHIP throughout his 13-season career.

The 37-year-old has reached a significant milestone with his latest accomplishment. He is now only the sixth active player to reach 2,000 strikeouts. Accomplishing such a task has been done by just 88 other pitchers in MLB history.

Skenes, on the other hand, threw an impressive 8 1/3 innings against the Cardinals Tuesday night where he recorded eight strikeouts with no walks, four hits and two earned runs.

It looked like the 22-year-old flamethrower was going to go the distance and perhaps snub out a win until Alec Burleson scored Michael Siani on a one-out single in the top of the ninth inning to give the Cardinals the lead, which proved to be the difference.

It was a tremendous divisional game and hopefully, the Cardinals can pull out another victory in tomorrow's series finale against the Pirates.

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