Lance Lynn, in six-plus innings on Friday, walked five batters. He now has walked 15 batters in his first three starts this season. That is the most he's walked in any three-start stretch during his career. Three of those walks came around to score, underscoring the whole walks-will-haunt-you commandment of pitching.
Lynn was pitching for the first time sine April 9, as he suffered the most from the early run of postponements as well as the desire to have Jose Berrios pitch in Puerto Rico.
"I was as sharp tonight as I have been all year," he said. "That's a plus. I threw some good breaking pitches and good changeups. There is still some work to be done."
Lynn is a pro and would not complain about the layoff between starts. But he did point out that he usually has more than three starts at this point in the season. He also said he's looking forward to more games being played.
So yes, the schedule has affected him. He just wouldn't use it as an excuse.
"I thought there were a lot of positives," Twins manager Paul Molitor said.
But Molitor could have went to the bullpen after the sixth inning, but Lynn took the mound in the seventh and -while facing the bottom of the order - let the first two batters of the inning reach base. The Rays 8-9-1 hitters were 4-for-6 with three walks off of Lynn.
"He walked (Mallex) Smith, gave up the double and kind of put us in a bad spot there in the seventh," Molitor said.
I think Molitor felt Lynn needs innings and could get through another inning, but it backfired on him. It didn't come up after the game because of the focus on how the last three innings played out. But Lynn spoke optimistically after the game, so we'll see where he goes from here.
