Lynn earns his first win in second stint with Cards, who beat A's before season

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lance Lynn earned his first win for the St. Louis Cardinals in seven years, a 3-2 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night before a season-low crowd of 3,296 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Lynn (1-0) allowed two runs — one earned — and five hits in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.18 in four starts. The 36-year-old right-hander went 72-47 for the Cardinals from 2011-17. After pitching for five other teams, he returned to St. Louis during the offseason for an $11 million, one-year contract.

“From the get-go, they weren’t going to let me try to get to two strikes or get them in a strikeout situation,” Lynn said. “So then you just mix and match early and let them have some weak contact. We had some great plays behind me. All in all, that’s a good recipe.”

JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley each got three straight outs, with Helsley earning his major league-leading seventh save in eight chances.