Lance Lynn carves up Giants, injures ankle in Cardinals win

Take a look around the league with Big League Stew's daily wrap up. We'll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.

It was a bittersweet afternoon for Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn.

On the plus side, he was excellent on the hill, silencing the San Francisco Giants bats for seven scoreless innings in the Cardinals 6-0 victory. Lynn allowed six hits, walked two and struck out two en route to his 11th win.

On the down side, he was forced from the game with an ankle injury that according to reports looked worse than it actually was.

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The injury occurred in the eighth inning when Lynn attempted to field Juan Perez's chopper. Lynn fielded it cleanly, but then twisted his right ankle trying to throw to first. The Cardinals are calling it a mild ankle sprain, though given what happened to Adam Wainwright this season Cardinals fans might hold their breath until they see him pitch again.

The Cardinals offense was locked in as well against San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong. They scored four runs on seven hits in his 4 2/3 innings, before adding two extra runs in the ninth. Matt Carpenter and Stephen Piscotty set the pace atop the order, combining for six hits and four runs scored. Piscotty was 4-for-4 with a triple.

That sets up the rubber match on Sunday with Jaime Garcia facing off against Chris Heston.

MIKE FIERS STAY HOT FOR ASTROS

Coming off a dominant no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his previous outing, Houston Astros right-hander Mike Fiers stayed hot in their 4-1 victory against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

With three extra days rest after throwing a career-high 134 pitches, Fiers tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits and three walks. Fiers had fans moving toward the edge of their seats early, carrying another no-no into the fourth inning. That's when serial history interrupter Joe Mauer singled cleanly to center field.

Fiers finished the game with five strikeouts and improved to 2-0 since being acquired from Milwaukee. He's allowed one run or less in his last four outings.

Offensively, Houston did its damage early, scoring four runs in the first four innings. Evan Gattis and Jake Marisneck each singled home one, while Luis Valbuena doubled home a pair.

With the win, the Astros have now won six of their last eight. The surging Twins have seven wins in their last nine.

RED SOX EMBRACE SPOILER ROLE AGAINST METS

Remember when it looked like the Mets wouldn't lose again? The Boston Red Sox have taken care of that, knocking off the NL East leaders in two straight games to begin their weekend series.

The Red Sox emerged with a 3-1 victory on Saturday behind a stellar outing from Joe Kelly. The 27-year-old right-hander tossed 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing just five hits and two walks.

That continued a string of stellar outings from Kelly, who was sent to the minor leagues in June to retool and refocus. He's done just that, completing August with a spotless record.

Well, he did say he'd win the AL Cy Young this season.

Obviously, that's not going to happen. The Pitcher of the Month award probably won't either, but he definitely has something to hang his hat on moving forward.

NATS GAIN GROUND IN NL EAST

It's big news these days when the Mets actually lose. It's even bigger news when the Washington Nationals take advantage and gain ground with a victory.

They were able to do just that on Saturday, topping the Marlins 5-1 behind Jordan Zimmermann's pitching and three home runs.

Zimmermann was actually coming off a pair of tough outings in which he allowed four earned runs in each. Against Miami, he was on point, allowing a Justin Bour home run and little else. Zimmermann ended up tossing seven innings, allowing seven hits and one walk.

Meanwhile, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman got Washington's offense on track with a first-inning solo home run. In the sixth, Clint Robinson and Ian Desmond went back-to-back, with Robinson's shot driving home two.

From there, Washington cruised to victory while the Mets sat back and licked their wounds from the Red Sox defeat. The Nationals are now 5 1/2 back in the division race. As we all know, that's their only hope for a postseason berth.

Want to see more from Saturday's slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813