After losing three straight games, the Chicago White Sox needed someone to stop the bleeding. They got Lance Lynn to play the role of stopgap on Monday night against his former team. Lynn won the World Series with the Cardinals as a rookie with Tony La Russa as his manager in 2011. While he has fond memories wearing a Cardinals uniform, he was not interested in a friendly reunion. "I've always been an asshole" Lynn said when asked about his mentailty on the mound in the postgame press conference.

Ole Reliable

The bullpen had been taxed in New York so, the White Sox needed Lynn to go deep into the game. He obliged. Lynn was his usual reliable self. The husky right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run ball and had a no-hitter going through five and a third innings. The Cardinals could only muster three hits off of him all evening. Lynn struck out four and walked three. He was able to change speeds with his four-seam fastball, changeup, and sinker while working both sides of the plate. When he needed an extra gear he reached back and found it. He exited the game after throwing 104 pitches. He lowered his season ERA to 1.51.

His only earned run was the result of a leadoff walk in the fifth coming around to score. Paul Goldschmidt's RBI single was a play that Tim Anderson probably could have made but instead, the ball deflected off of his glove and Tommy Edman trotted home. The White Sox needed him to be good early on while the offense struggled to figure out Kwang Hyun Kim. Lynn kept the Sox in the game long enough for the bats to heat up and was rewarded with his fifth win of the season. After the game, Lynn called the victory the most satisfying win of his career outside of the postseason. It was his first victory against his the Cardinals in his career.

"I'm Not going to lie to you, That was one of the most satisfying wins i've ever had in my career."

Over his last five starts, he is 4-0 with 23 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .149 batting average. Lynn has been particularly dominant at Guaranteed Rate Field. He is 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in five starts at home.

Going Going Vaughn

Andrew Vaughn changed the game with one swing of the bat. Kwang Hyun Kim had the White Sox baffled through five innings. The veteran hitters could not touch him. The kids didn't seem to have a problem with him, however. The rookies gave Kim fits. Mercedes singled off of him on a full count in the second inning. Then Vaughn ripped a double to left field sending Mercedes to third but, the White Sox were unable to capitalize. Later in the sixth, Mercedes swung at a pitch at his eye level and somehow managed to guide it to right field. Kim got the second out of the inning but looked like he was running on fumes. After a long mound visit, Mike Shildt decided to stick with his starter. That turned out to be a mistake. Vaughn made sure that Mercedes would not be stranded again launched his second home run in as many days.

Vaughn was able to get ahead 2-0 in the count and took advantage. "I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit," Vaughn told Jason Benetti and Steve Stone after the game. "I think it was a changeup down. Out a good swing on it and it ended up going over." It was only the second home run Kim has allowed all year. Vaughn is beginning to develop a flare for dramatics. On Sunday he hit a game-tying home run off of Aroldis Champman with two outs in the ninth inning. That was the first earned run that Chapman has allowed this season. His home run Monday erased a one-run deficit and flipped it into a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, Tim Anderson hit a two-run double to push the lead to 4-1. Micheal Kopech came in out of the bullpen in the eighth inning and slammed the door and the White Sox snapped their three-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory.