Cardinals at Marlins
St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn has quashed any concerns over how he'd respond after sitting out an entire year due to Tommy John surgery. Lynn has been magnificent since his lone defeat of the season and carries a four-start winning streak into the finale of a three-game series at the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
Lynn has never lost to the Marlins in six career appearances (four starts), compiling a 4-0 record and 3.04 ERA against them. St. Louis rallied for four runs in the eighth inning before Dexter Fowler delivered a tiebreaking, pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth as the Cardinals improved to 5-0 on their six-game road trip and won for the eighth straight time away from home. Manager Don Mattingly has spent three innings in the dugout so far in the series, getting ejected in each of the first two games for Miami, which has dropped 11 of its last 14 games to fall a season-worst six games below .500. The pitching has been unable to contain the opposition during the current 1-5 slide, with the Marlins surrendering 39 runs in the five losses.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (4-1, 2.04 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Tom Koehler (1-1, 5.40)
Lynn has permitted only two runs during his winning streak, continuing his oustanding stretch by blanking Atlanta with six innings of four-hit ball last time out. The Ole Miss product has permitted only two runs and 16 hits over 25 innings during the past four turns. Adeiny Hechavarria is 4-for-8 against Lynn, but he left Tuesday's game after tweaking an oblique injury that sidelined him last month.
Koehler gave up three runs for the fourth time in five starts at the New York Mets on Friday, going five innings and settling for a second straight no-decision. He continues to be plagued by the long ball, serving up two more against the Mets to boost his season total to nine in 30 innings spanning six starts. Koehler is 1-3 with a bloated 7.84 ERA in four starts versus the Cardinals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals OF Tommy Pham, called up when Fowler hurt his shoulder last week, is 9-for-20 with three homers in five games.
2. Marlins LHP Adam Conley, the loser in the series opener, was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans on Tuesday.
3. Cardinals 3B Jedd Gyorko had a two-run single Tuesday, extending his hitting streak to six games.