Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol tried to wring one more out from starting pitcher Miles Mikolas’ start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Marmol desperately wanted to get his starter through the sixth inning and keep the club’s slim lead intact.
Dodgers star Mookie Betts got a hold of a Mikolas pitch for a solo home run, but then Mikolas got within one out of getting through the frame with a one-run lead. When the Dodgers scratched out a pair of two-out singles, Marmol couldn’t wait any longer to turn to his bullpen.
By trying to get Mikolas through the sixth, the Cardinals ended up turning to the bullpen with runners already on base and precious little wiggle room. Ultimately, the Dodgers turned that into a five-run inning and grabbed the lead for good.
The Cardinals will never know exactly how things would’ve unfolded if they’d gotten to the seventh inning with a one-run advantage and all their bullpen options available.
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Instead, they’ll have to try to shake off a 7-6 loss to the Dodgers in front of an announced crowd of 38,485 at Busch Stadium for the first game of a three-game weekend series.
The loss marked the fifth in a row for the Cardinals (60-62) as they fell 10 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division.
“Every out we could get out of him today was important,†Marmol said of Mikolas. “If you look at our 'pen over the last stretch, they’ve done a lot to get us here.â€
The bullpen has been the strength of the Cardinals this season. That group played a critical part in their having 32 of their 60 wins in games decided by two runs or fewer.
Andrew Kittredge entered the night tied for the major-league lead in holds (30), while JoJo Romero ranked second in NL in holds (28) and All-Star closer Ryan Helsley was tied for the MLB lead in saves (37).
However, Friday night Marmol proceeded as though he felt confident with his bullpen’s ability to cover the final three innings — the seventh, eighth and ninth — but he had trepidation about covering the sixth.
Bridging to the seventh
Left-hander John King has had success inducing weak contact for the most part this season, but he’d allowed as many earned runs in his last four appearances (two) as he had in his previous 11. His ERA and WHIP have also climbed since the start of August.
Kyle Leahy allowed one earned run in seven innings over four appearances in July, but he’d allowed three earned runs in his past five games (4 1/3 innings).
Shawn Armstrong, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline, has allowed runs in three of his six outings since he joined the Cardinals.
Rookie Ryan Fernandez has grown into a reliable high-leverage option, but he’d already appeared in more games than any other professional season in his career. He’d also been pitching through lower back stiffness in recent outings.
So Marmol leaned on Mikolas to get through the sixth.
“He was throwing the ball well,†Marmol said. “If you’re just reading the game, you know what’s coming out of his hand — you’re liking the way it’s moving and what he’s able to do with the ball. He’s kind of freezing guys on the corners and not giving in a whole lot. So you trust him to get one more out there, not knowing what it’s going to look like if you go to the pen.
“So you give him every opportunity to get out of that. After the two base hits, at that point you’ve got to go get him.â€
The inning gets away from the Cardinals
Mikolas threw 100 pitches (76 strikes) for the second time this season. He filled up the strike zone early and often. He threw first-pitch strikes to the first 12 batters he faced. Five of his strikeouts came on called third strikes.
“As far as my last couple of starts go, this is the best I’ve felt in a while,†Mikolas said. “I had a good long bullpen session the other day. We had some extra days in between. I was able to do a little bit more in my bullpen, talking with (pitching coach) Dusty (Blake) and trying and get things buttoned up. It showed.
“I thought I pitched really well. A couple bad pitches I wish I could take back. A couple little bleeders through the infield get me in trouble there in the last inning, but as far as how I threw the ball and how I felt, it was pretty good.â€
Through five innings, Mikolas allowed two runs on four hits. From the end of the second inning through the fifth inning, he retired 10 consecutive batters.
Betts homered to start the sixth and made the score 4-3. That caused the Cardinals to get Fernandez warming up in the bullpen. As the inning continued, Kittredge also started warming up.
Marmol later said that if he had to remove Mikolas with no outs or one out, Fernandez would’ve entered to finish the inning, leaving Kittredge available for the seventh. Once Mikolas got two outs, Kittredge became the option out of the bullpen to finish the inning and come back out in the seventh.
After Betts homered, Mikolas got the next two batters out on a fly ball to center and a grounder to third base.
Then Gavin Lux’s roller up the middle snuck under the dive of shortstop Masyn Winn. The next batter, Will Smith, hit a slow roller up the middle that Winn gloved a step or two onto the outfield grass. The slow roller left Winn no chance to throw Smith out at first base.
Smith’s single prompted Marmol to turn to Kittredge with two men on base and two outs.
“I’m never going to say I don’t have gas in the tank,†Mikolas said. “I train all winter and all year to be out there. But if you were to ask me, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring in Kitt’ or anyone out of that bullpen, I’d say go ahead. Our bullpen has been lock-down air-tight all year.â€
Kittredge left a sinker in the middle of the plate that Miguel Rojas lined up the middle for an RBI single.
Then with Smith and Rojas on base, Kevin Kiermaier belted a slider in the middle of the plate from Kittredge 415 feet to right-center field for a three-run home run. Kiermaier’s fifth home run of the season gave the Dodgers a 7-4 lead.
Kittredge made just his fifth career appearance without recording an out. He said he was disappointed with the location of his pitches, but he expressed confidence in the bullpen as a unit.
“I think guys are throwing the ball well,†Kittredge said. “Our bullpen has been pretty good all year. Tonight seems like the worst-case scenario for where we’re at right now. We need to win as many games as we can. To give up a lead like that stinks.â€
Mikolas finished his outing having allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out a season-high seven batters. Three of the seven hits he allowed came in the sixth inning. Two of the runs charged to him scored after he’d exited the game.
Matthew Liberatore (1 1/3 innings), Fernandez (1 1/3 innings) and Romero (2/3 innings) provided scoreless relief down the stretch.
The Cardinals got the tying run on base twice in the final three innings via walks, but they did not have a hit in those final three innings.
“They’re going to continue to take the ball, they have to and they’re willing to,†Marmol said of the relief corps. “But it’s just a matter of you’re reading the game going 'What’s going to be more effective here based on what you know and how the ball coming out your starter’s hand?'
"Today, I felt like (Mikolas) was throwing the ball well enough to get Smith. A couple feet to the left and we’re talking about a groundball to short.â€
Fernandez gets back on track
Fernandez hadn’t pitched since last Saturday in Kansas City when he allowed three runs on four hits in 1/3 innings, the third consecutive outing when he’d allowed runs.
Friday night, Fernandez said he located his slider better than in recent outings, which he described as “a big step.†He also said his fastball had more “ride†and better command than his previous outing in Kansas City.
Fernandez also acknowledged that he’d pitched through lower back stiffness in recent weeks. It was significant enough that it caused him pain to even bend down.
However, Fernandez made it a point to say he’d told the coaching staff he was available, and he made the decision to pitch through the tightness.
“That’s why I didn’t try to blame that outing on my back, because I thought I was good enough to pitch without it affecting me,†Fernandez said. “I don’t want to make an excuse about that, but there definitely were some days there that my back was pretty tight and hurting in the morning and loose in the afternoon.â€