Not Afraid of Lance Lynn – Lineups 6/13

Jose Quintana spat in the face of regression to the mean last night and managed to allow 10 hits over 5 innings while only allowing one run. That, along with some subtly poor fielding on the part of St. Louis opened to door for the Sox to take the series opener at Busch. Today Jake Peavy should be able to work the Cardinals lineup with a little more ease and a little less stress. Well, arm stress anyway, he’ll be working up a sweat swearing and looking as stressed as possible, I’m sure.

Lance Lynn is going for the Cardinals and he’s got a league leading 9 wins, trying to be the first to 10. Lynn is a bit of a surprise, he started a couple games last year, relieved in a couple handful more, but then this year got the chance to start full time and has made the most of it. He’s striking out batters at a rate of one per inning and has a 2.66 ERA. To be fair, however, his game log doesn’t quite read as a who’s who of dominant offenses. The most difficult lineup he has faced was a Matt Kemp-less Dodgers, who handed him a no decision after giving up 4 runs in 6 innings, and he’s faced the Braves twice, once getting the win and getting tagged with the loss the other. He’s yet to start a game this year against an A.L. team, so we’re all about to learn something.

Tonight’s Lineup:

1.De Aza – CF
2.Gordo – 2B
3.Big Donkey Dayan Viciedo* – LF
4.Paulie – 1B
5.Rios – RF
6.AJ – C
7.Alexei – SS
8.Hudson – 3B
9.Peavy – P

Gordon Beckham may have only gone 1-4 yesterday but he’s still hitting the ball well. A lot of balls being driven hard into right field are going for outs, but if that continues, the average will rise and we’ll be looking at that doubles power we’ve been waiting for since 2009.

***UPDATE****
Dunn is a late scratch with a “slightly sprained” ankle. No left field adventures for the Big Donkey tonight.