Lance Lynn’s throwing error opens door wide for Giants in Game 5

ST. LOUIS — Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn threw to the right base in the fourth inning. The problem was, he threw right to the actual base, hitting it with the baseball while trying to start an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play. The ball skipped away for an error, handing the San Francisco Giants a run and a big opportunity for more.

Desperate to win and stay alive, the Giants responded with three more runs, which was more than enough for lefthander Barry Zito, who shut down the Cardinals over 7 2/3 innings in a must-have 5-0 victory in Game 5 of the NLCS. The Cards still lead the series 3-2, but the final two games will be played in San Francisco starting Sunday night.

Lynn had been rolling, retiring nine of his first 10 batters, including five strikeouts, but Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval led off the fourth with line-drive singles to right field. Lynn came back with another strikeout, overmatching Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence followed with a weak dribbler back to the mound. All the Cards needed to do was execute. But Lynn looked casual throwing to second, and shortstop Pete Kozma appeared to be late covering the bag (perhaps because he was positioned well left of short because of Pence's propensity to pull the ball). He couldn't get any leather on the ball, which kept on going into center, allowing Scutaro to score.

Not the end of the world, right? No, but it was also not the end of the inning.

Brandon Belt popped out after the error and then Brandon Crawford worked the count skillfully before lining a two-run single to center for a 3-0 lead, effectively silencing the heavily partisan crowd at Busch Stadium. Batting ninth, Zito — an .075 hitter during the regular season — took a push bunt from his bag of tricks and beat out an infield single to the near side of third base for an RBI. Lynn wouldn't get to face Jose Pagan. Manager Mike Matheny went to the bullpen.

Even though Lynn made the error himself, all four runs he allowed were unearned. It's a quirk in the rules, but the logic is that Lynn didn't allow those runs pitching, but instead as a fielder.

During the regular season, Lynn made one error and helped to turn one double play. So either outcome would have been rare. But this was disastrous. Coincidentally, Lynn had hit into a double play with the bases loaded in the second, killing his team's best chance to score against Zito.

Love baseball? Enjoying the postseason?
Follow @AnswerDave, @bigleaguestew, @KevinKaduk on Twitter,
along with the BLS Facebook page!