Lynn, bullpen combine for shutout of Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- No Sports Illustrated cover jinx for these Cardinals. They just keep on winning.

Lance Lynn pitched two-hit ball over six innings, and David Freese and Allen Craig each homered and drove in three runs, helping St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-0 on Friday night for their third win in a row and 11th in its last 13 road games.

Lynn appears with the rest of the rotation on this week's SI cover in a photo inspired by a cover from the Oct. 7, 1968, issue that featured Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, Mike Shannon and Lou Brock.

"It's a cool photo," Freese said.

Lynn (7-1) struck out nine and walked one for the NL Central leaders, who earned their eighth shutout win of the season. The only hits he gave up were a single to Carl Crawford to open the game and a double to Juan Uribe in the third.

The right-hander left after just 77 pitches because he felt his lower back tighten up going down to his hamstring.

"It just flared up on me, so we decided it was a good time to shut me down," Lynn said. "As the game went on, it kept getting tighter and tighter. Wish I could have gone longer. With the run support and day off yesterday, it was a good time not to push it."

Lynn is averaging better than a strikeout per inning this season with 66 strikeouts in 61 innings. He relied exclusively on his fastball the first time through the Dodgers' lineup and then mixed it up the second time through.

"That's the plan going in every start for me," he said.

Freese played for the first time since cutting his right thumb Sunday.

Craig continued his tear in May, when he's batting .363 with three homers and 17 RBI in 21 games this month.

The last-place Dodgers' loss came a few hours after team president Stan Kasten said Mattingly was not in immediate danger of being fired.

"I do expect things to turn around," Kasten said before the game. "I expect Donnie to be here for a long time."

Chris Capuano (1-3) allowed six runs -- five earned -- and six hits in five-plus innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked three.