Runs haven’t come easily for the Cardinals so far this season. So getting an early lead is like not having much more than the shirt on your back and stumbling upon a large unclaimed stockpile of gold.
The Cardinals couldn’t afford not to make the most of it.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they didn’t make the most of it. They failed to build on an early lead, and the Milwaukee Brewers jumped on Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas for three home runs in the first four innings. The last two were back-breaking homers that swung the game and set the Brewers on the path to a series-clinching rout.
Mikolas gave up the first five runs on the way to what ended up being the worst day for the pitching staff so far this season in a 12-5 loss to the Brewers in front of an announced 41,949 at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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The Brewers (13-6) have won the first two games of the series, and they handed the Cardinals their third straight loss for the first time this season.
The Cardinals allowed seasons highs for hits (18) and runs (12) in a game. Seven of the hits went for extra bases, including three home runs yielded by Mikolas (1-3).
“It stinks,†Mikolas said. “We played some great defense today, put a few runs on the board. And I wasn’t able to keep the runs off the board. That one is on me today. I didn’t do my job out there.â€
The Cardinals (9-12) entered the day having scored just 10 total runs in their previous five games. They haven’t hit a home run since their series-opening win on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 12.
Before the Cardinals took their first swing in Saturday’s game, they trailed 2-0.
In the bottom of the first, Brewers star catcher William Contreras, the younger brother of Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, lined a single to left field for the game’s first hit. Two batters later, first baseman Rhys Hoskins crushed a 1-0 slider from Mikolas located about belt high and over the inner third of the plate.
Mikolas dropped his head and slumped over almost immediately after Hoskins made contact. The homer, Hoskins’ fourth of the season, traveled an estimated 399 feet.
After the Cardinals cut the deficit in half courtesy of a Nolan Arenado RBI double in the bottom of the first, the Brewers threatened to score additional runs in the second inning when they put the first two batters of the inning on base.
Gary Sanchez smacked a leadoff double to left-center field. Mikolas hit the next batter, Blake Perkins, with a pitch to put two men on base with no outs.
Mikolas worked out of the inning with help from his defense. Rookie catcher Ivan Herrera fielded Brice Turang’s bunt and made a throw on the run to get the lead runner at third base for the first out of the inning. Mikolas then struck out Jackson Chourio swinging for the second out.
The Cardinals appeared to have gotten the third out of the inning when Sal Frelick grounded to Goldschmidt at first base, and Goldschmidt flipped to Mikolas covering first base. However, replay review overturned the out call and left the bases loaded.
Center fielder Michael Siani made a leaping catch on a ball driven to the wall by William Contreras to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.
Mikolas hadn’t received more than three runs of support in any of his previous starts this season, but the Cardinals scored three runs in the second against Brewers left-hander D.L. Hall.
Lars Nootbaar’s leadoff double started the rally, then Jordan Walker walked and a bunt single by Siani loaded the bases. Brendan Donovan’s sacrifice fly tied the score. Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI groundout to shortstop gave the Cardinals the lead, and Willson Contreras’ single deflected off the Brewers second baseman Turang drove in another run.
Willson Contreras extended his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games, and he has reached base in 25 straight games dating back to last season.
That 4-2 Cardinals advantage didn’t last past the top of the fourth inning.
“Offense started to look a little better there early in that game,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We put together some good at-bats. We controlled the strike zone well today, but we still needed more. I mean, you give up 18 hits and 12 runs you’re not going to win many ballgames.â€
Mikolas gave up a leadoff double to Perkins to start the fourth inning, then Turang tied the game with one swing.
Turang went outside the strike zone to chase an 0-2 slider down and in. Instead of a strikeout or a weak grounder to an infielder, Turang smashed the ball an estimated 387 feet to right field, where it cleared the outfield wall and landed in the Cardinals bullpen.
Chourio, the next batter, struck out swinging against Mikolas in the second inning. Chourio saw five pitches during that first at-bat, four strikes, one which he fouled off. Mikolas showed a range of pitches, however, he didn’t show his four-seam fastball in that matchup.
In the fourth inning, Chourio fell behind in the count 0-2. He took a sweeper down and away for a ball, and then he jumped on a four-seam fastball over the outer third of the plate and slightly above the belt. Chourio drove the pitch 370 feet to the opposite field for his fourth home run of the season.
That put the Brewers ahead 5-4, and they didn’t trail again.
Asked if he felt his pitches had leaked too much over the heart of the plate, Mikolas replied, “Not necessarily, I thought I threw some good pitches. But I’ve got to go back and look. I haven’t taken the time to look at them yet. I made some good pitches. They put some good swings on the ball.â€
Mikolas gave up five runs on nine hits, including three home runs, in 4 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.
“Miles was making good pitches,†said Herrera, who caught Mikolas’ outing. “The only one I would say wasn’t a good pitch was early, the first home run. But after that, he made great pitches. They put good swings on it and there was a lot of weak contact. That’s part of the game.â€
Neither team scored in the fifth, but the Brewers scored in three of the final four innings to put the game out of reach.
The Cardinals bullpen, which entered the day with an ERA of 2.91, allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. Zack Thompson (2/3 innings, three runs), Giovanny Gallegos (2/3 innings, one run) and Andre Pallante (3 innings, three runs) pitched in relief of Mikolas.
The Cardinals had just one hit from the start of the fourth inning through the eighth inning. At one point, Brewers relievers retired 10 consecutive batters. The Cardinals’ fifth run came on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Arenado.
“It’s tough whenever any game slips away, but I think our pitchers have been battling,†Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn said. “For us, we’ve got to put up some runs. I mean I think at some point we’ve got to put up 12, 15 runs like they did today.â€