Lance Lynn and Ryan Helsley came up big during the St. Louis Cardinals’ Sunday night game (June 30) against the Cincinnati Reds. Their solid pitching helped their squad tally their 43rd victory in 83 games.
Lynn earned his 1,000th strikeout with the Cardinals after finishing with six against Cincinnati. In addition to those strikeouts, he allowed only two hits and surrendered one walk in six innings. Lynn joins Dizzy Dean, Adam Wainwright, Bob Gibson, Bob Forsch, and Chris Carpenter on the list of pitchers with 1,000 strikeouts for St. Louis.
Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero continued what Lynn started, keeping the Reds scoreless before Helsley took the mound. The closer completed the job by earning his 30th save this season, making him the second Cardinals pitcher after Lee Smith to have 30 saves before the All-Star break.
HEL'S BELLS
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 30, 2024
Ryan Helsley becomes just the second Cardinal in franchise history to record 30 saves before the All-Star Break!#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/sPcNNMhanM
Helsley and Lynn got support from Pedro Pages, who connected on three hits in four at-bats and a run. Nolan Arenado scored the other run, while Masyn Winn had two hits and an RBI in four at-bats.
This latest victory by the Cardinals puts them at 43-40, 6.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League Central lead. However, that record is good enough for the third NL Wild Card spot with the second half of the 2024 Major League Baseball unfolding.
-Lance Fernandez