In the top of the fourth inning, Lance Lynn finally gave up a hit. And then he gave up a lot more than that.
Giants knock out Lance Lynn, lead Cardinals 4-0 in 4th
In the first three innings of Game 5, Lynn held the Giants hitless while racking up five strikeouts. In the fourth, though, Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval opened with singles, Scutaro stopping at second. Lynn responded by striking out Buster Posey for the second time in the game. Then Hunter Pence chopped an easy grounder to Lynn.
Lynn gave the Giants a run, and the lead:
Shortstop Pete Kozma was late getting to second base, which probably rattled Lynn and caused the low throw, which caromed off the bag. Scutaro scored easily, Sandoval went to third, and Pence was safe at first on the error.
Lynn got Brandon Belt on a little pop, but walked Gregor Blanco to load the bases. And suddenly, Lynn was in a huge jam and Joe Kelly was getting loose in the bullpen.
He wouldn't escape the jam. After falling behind Brandon Crawford, Lynn worked the count full before Crawford sent a grounder up the middle for a two-run single.
Finally, a respite: Barry Zito was due next. No problem. Oh, except Zito had another idea and he executed that idea with absolute perfection:
Just as in Game 1 of this series, Lynn got knocked out by the Giants with two outs in the fourth inning.
All four runs off Lynn were unearned, but that must be small solace, considering who made the error that led to all of them.
Joe Kelly did indeed come into the game, and struck out Angel Pagan to strand two Giants.
Heading to the bottom of the fourth, it's Giants 4, Cardinals 0.
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