Cardinals at Mets
Lance Lynn began an impressive scoreless innings stretch by scattering three hits over seven dominant frames against the New York Mets on July 9. After pushing that total to 13 1/3 innings in his last outing, the right-hander aims to continue his torrid play on Thursday afternoon as the St. Louis Cardinals look to exit Citi Field with a third victory in the finale of the four-game series.
St. Louis was left feeling blue - matching Yoenis Cespedes' new hair color - after the 31-year-old Cuban drove in Asdrubal Cabrera on two occasions in the Mets' 7-3 triumph on Wednesday. Cespedes entered the contest going just 2-for-21 versus the Cardinals this season and hopes his new look gives him confidence versus Lynn, against whom he is 2-for-9 in his career. While the Mets snapped a three-game overall skid and four-game slide versus the Cardinals, the latter fell for the eighth time in 21 contests to slow their charge in the National League Central. Magneuris Sierra continues to feast on major-league pitching since being summoned from Double-A Springfield, slapping a two-run single to highlight a three-hit performance on Wednesday that improved him to 22-for-51 in 13 games with the Cardinals this season.
TV: 12:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), SNY (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (8-6, 3.40 ERA) vs. Mets RH Seth Lugo (4-2, 4.50)
Lynn recorded his second straight scoreless outing and improved to 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA in his last four starts on Saturday after working 6 1/3 innings in a 4-0 victory at Pittsburgh. "I was getting outs with every pitch. When you're moving the ball in and out, changing speeds, good things can happen," the 30-year-old told reporters. Lynn has enjoyed "good things" in his career when facing Lucas Duda (0-for-14, four strikeouts) but has endured a hard time against Jay Bruce (15-for-36, three homers, 11 RBIs).
Lugo picked up his first win of the month on Saturday after yielding three runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 9-3 victory over Colorado, but the night will be remembered for the 27-year-old belting his first career homer. "The jog around the bases was pretty surreal," Lugo told reporters. "I always looked forward to that moment when I was a little kid, you know?" Lugo was coming off a no-decision at St. Louis on July 9 in which he allowed a solo homer by Luke Voit among two hits in three frames of relief.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York SS Jose Reyes has recorded eight multi-hit performances this month.
2. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong is 6-for-15 with two runs scored during his four-game hitting streak.
3. Cabrera has collected seven hits in his last six contests after recording just one in his previous six.