Cardinals' Lance Lynn Wins 10-Plus Games Before Break for 3rd Straight Season

After earning the victory in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Lance Lynn of the St. Louis Cardinals improved to 10-6 on the season, giving him double-digit wins before the All-Star break for the third consecutive year. This made him the first Cardinals pitcher to earn 10 or more wins before the break in three straight seasons since Bob Gibson did it in 1968-70, per the team's official Twitter account.

Gibson put together quite the impressive stretch during his streak, as he went on to pick up 20 or more wins in each of those seasons. The right-hander was outright dominant during arguably the best three-year stretch of his career, as he owned a 2.13 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 8.0 K/9 in 103 starts. He also picked up two Cy Young Awards over that time, adding the National League MVP award in 1968.

Lynn's run doesn't quite have the same historical significance, as he only managed to pick up 13 total victories over the second half in those first two seasons combined. Following Wednesday's start, his ERA from 2012-14 sits at 3.71, although he has utilized the strikeout a bit more than Gibson, posting an 8.8 K/9 over that span.

The Cardinals right-hander is a bit notorious for his second-half regression, as shown by his career splits. His ERA increases from 3.54 in the first half to 3.95 in the second half, while his WHIP shoots up to 1.38 from 1.26. His strikeout rate surprisingly improves following the All-Star break, although his win percentage drops roughly 130 points. 

Lynn's Cardinals are currently closing in on the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, as they've narrowed the gap to 1.5 games following Milwaukee's 9-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday afternoon.

But the Cards are surely counting on some long-awaited consistency from the 27-year-old hurler if they plan to take the division.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise specified.