IL Omaha Storm Chasers

Lynch Shines in Werner Park Debut

Published on May 26, 2021 under International League (IL)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


Daniel Lynch was originally scheduled to be Omaha's starting pitcher on opening night at Werner Park.

Instead, the left-hander out of Virginia made his Major League debut on the eve of the MiLB season.

Kansas City called upon Lynch to make a start against Cleveland on May 3. A couple of shaky outings later, the 24-year-old rookie was back with the Storm Chasers for last week's Triple-A series at Iowa.

Lynch finally took the mound at Werner Tuesday, exactly three weeks after he was initially expected to. He celebrated the occasion by putting forth his best outing of the season in a 3-1 win over Indianapolis.

Starting opposite rehabbing Pittsburgh pitcher Chad Kuhl, Lynch limited the Indians to a run on five hits in 5.2 innings of work. He fanned six Indy batters while walking only one in his first victory of the season.

Gabriel Cancel and Kyle Isbel backed the lefty's effort with solo home runs in the middle innings as the Storm Chasers moved into a first-place tie with Indianapolis in Triple-A East's Midwest Division at 11-7.

After his first appearance at Werner Park ended, Lynch said he took being sent back to Omaha in stride.

"Obviously, you never want that to happen, and you have a couple of days where you're bummed out," he said. "I always do my best to use adversity and get better from it. I think that's something I've done very well in my life. I just keep trying to believe in myself and believe that I'm going to get better and that I'm going to be back."

Tuesday's effort was a step toward that. Lynch matched Kuhl pitch for pitch early on, then he escaped a rough spot by fanning Hunter Owen with two runners in scoring position to end the top of the fourth.

"I felt like I kept my body and my effort under control throughout the whole night," he said. "That was one of the moments where I needed to go and get a little extra. I felt like I threw some good sliders to him and went and got that extra couple mph with the fastball to get him out."

The Chasers broke the scoreless tie minutes later when Isbel walked, stole two bases and scored on Ryan McBroom's single. Indy countered with a run in the top of the fifth, but Cancel answered with a solo blast off reliever Matt Eckelman in the bottom of that inning. Isbel's first homer came in sixth.

Grant Gavin, Jake Newberry and Anthony Swarzak combined for 3.1 shutout innings in relief, giving up only two singles and a walk combined. Swarzak earned his first Omaha save by tossing a scoreless ninth.

Lynch said the game, which lasted just two hours and 31 minutes, moved along quickly. He said he felt like he was constantly getting up as soon as he sat down as he and Kuhl silenced the offenses early on.

"Honestly, no matter what the score is for me, I want to go out there and put up zeroes," he said. "I want to go out there and dominate. That's why I play."

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International League Stories from May 26, 2021


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