Back in his longtime St. Louis jersey, Lynn reaches 2,000-K milestone

PITTSBURGH -- Fiery. Competitive. A leader.

Those are three terms Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol used to describe right-hander Lance Lynn just hours before the 12th-year pro became the 89th pitcher in MLB history to reach the 2,000-strikeout plateau.

Entering the game sitting on 1,998 career strikeouts, Lynn struck out a pair of hitters over five scoreless frames in St. Louis’ 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

“To be able to do it [with] St. Louis, it was cool,” Lynn said. “There’s no other way to say it.”

After fanning Nick Gonzales in the third inning, Lynn got Jared Triolo swinging on a fastball on the outside edge of the plate to end the fourth inning. The only problem? The ball was then promptly tossed into the stands by catcher Willson Contreras. The St. Louis backstop then had to barter with the Pirates fan sitting behind the dugout, successfully exchanging a bat for the milestone baseball.

The feat made Lynn one of six active pitchers to record 2,000 strikeouts in their career -- alongside Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole -- and the fifth pitcher to record the feat as a member of the Cardinals. Lynn did it in style, too, throwing 13 pitches during his outing that registered 95 mph or higher on the radar gun -- by far the most he’s thrown in a start this season.

“His competitive nature has allowed him to really accomplish cool things in this game,” Marmol said. “... This is a guy that, dating back to when I played with him in [2008], he’s fiery, as you can imagine, and just didn't care about what anybody thought other than him taking the ball and shoving. He’s taken that mentality to a lot of teams over a decade, and it’s served him well.”

Lynn’s outing was far from perfect, allowing four hits and three walks, but the righty was able to navigate around a pair of bases-loaded jams while posting back-to-back clean innings in the third and fourth to keep the Pirates off the board. Lynn got Gonzales to ground out on a soft chopper out in front of the plate to end the Pirates’ threat in the fifth and his outing.

“That’s what he’s done his entire career, is out-compete guys,” Marmol said. “He’s going to tell you what’s coming and still beat you with it.”

The 37-year-old contributed to issuing rookie sensation and National League Cy Young candidate Paul Skenes the first loss of his career.

Lynn’s excellence on the mound is nothing new to those around the NL.

“Lance has been doing it for a long time,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It's fastball-cutter. There's no secret to what he's gonna throw. There's been no secret over the last probably 10 years with him. It's just he pitches. He pitches. He did a good job of getting ahead. He did a good job of mixing and matching with the sinker and cutter.”

Lynn spent the first six seasons of his career in St. Louis before signing with Minnesota in the 2018 offseason. After seven years away from the organization, the two-time All-Star was signed last November to a one-year deal to serve as a veteran arm in the rotation.

Marmol said that, while it often goes unseen, Lynn has developed into a key leader in the clubhouse. It’s part of the reason the organization prioritized bringing him back. During his second stint with the team, Marmol said, Lynn is taking on a different role by helping the younger players assimilate into the organization as easily as possible.

“He understands what he needs to bring to the table every day, but he also brings others along with him, which is why we wanted him here,” Marmol said.

Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson said he would take his veteran pitcher over anybody the team goes up against. Lynn provides a certain energy that Burleson said the team feeds off of.

“On the mound, he’s going to give you everything he’s got for that day. Whether that’s nine innings, five innings, whatever it is, he’s going to give it to you 100%,” Burleson said. “He’s going to make his pitches, and even when he’s not feeling well, he’s still going to go up there and be a dog.

“He’s something that I think we needed in this clubhouse. He keeps it fun, but he knows when it's time to -- I guess you could say rally the troops and get guys locked in.”