Cardinals' Lynn rediscovers the right arm slot

St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn, who had given up 25 hits and 17 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings over three starts, made an in-game adjustment Thursday night. Just like that, he once again was the dominating pitcher who had won 10 of his first 12 decisions.

Lynn, getting on top of the ball better, had a more darting sinker and better bite on his slider after struggling for two innings, albeit scoreless ones. Then he reeled off four more scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over Colorado. He fanned seven for his six-inning stint and gave up only four singles.

"Sometimes, your slot changes (on the release) without you really knowing it," said manager Mike Matheny. "He was getting down underneath (the ball) and pushing out of the (strike) zone and he couldn't figure out why.

"He did a nice job of making that in-game adjustment. Not many guys can do that.

"I thought the ball was jumping out of his hand. His stuff was as good as any day he's had this season.

Lynn (11-4) said, "I felt really good the last couple of outings. I was just off a little mechanically. Giving up two-out homers is a big problem, especially when they cost you three or four runs."

The only homer the Cardinals gave up was a two-run drive by Colorado right fielder Tyler Colvin off right-hander Victor Marte in the eighth inning. But the Cardinals ultimately closed out the game to win the series, three games to one, marking their first series victory at home in three weeks.