PHOENIX — In the instances in which the Cardinals applied a bit of pressure on their former prospect and current Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen, the right-hander made key pitches that kept them frustrated and out of the scoring column on Sunday afternoon.
For four innings, matched Gallen scoreless inning for scoreless inning.
Then the Diamondbacks hit Mikolas with a five-run fifth inning that decided the game as the Cardinals lost 5-0 at Chase Field and dropped their second straight three-game series. They’ve also lost the finale of all five of their series so far this season.
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The game also marked the first time this season the Cardinals were shut out.
Mikolas (1-2) received zero runs of support from his offense for the second consecutive start.
“It’s not really something I think about,†Mikolas said about run support. “My job is to keep runs off the board. I didn’t do that today, and that’s why we lost.â€
Meanwhile, Gallen held Cardinals hitters to four hits, and he struck out seven in six innings. Two of the hits against him came in the second inning, when the Cardinals (7-9) left the bases loaded.
Nolan Arenado belted a leadoff double and Lars Nootbaar drew a one-out walk to put two men on with one out. Rookie Ivan Herrera’s single loaded the bases. That was the Cardinals’ lone hit with runners in scoring position (one for seven).
After Herrera’s single, shortstop Brandon Crawford struck out looking. That left the task of getting the runners in to backup outfielder Michael Siani. He put the ball in play, but his grounder to first base ended the inning.
In the fourth inning, designated hitter Willson Contreras doubled and advanced to third base on a soft Nootbaar grounder. With one out and a runner on third, Herrera struck out swinging, and Crawford popped up to second base to end the inning.
“He’s a good pitcher,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Gallen. “They’re trying to put it in play. Unfortunately, it did not go our way today offensively. At-bats were tough. He located well. He was at the bottom of the zone. He did a good job down there. He didn’t give the guys a whole lot to hit.â€
A major theme of the series undoubtedly was the ability or inability of the Cardinals (7-9) to respond to a big offensive inning from the Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals bounced back after allowing a six-run inning Friday night to win. They were tied when a three-run inning swung Saturday’s game and dealt them a loss. Sunday’s five-run frame propelled Arizona.
The Diamondbacks (8-8) scored 14 of their 15 runs in the series in just those three innings.
Mikolas had allowed a lone hit entering the fifth inning, but the Diamondbacks collected three within the first four batters of that inning, including back-to-back hits to start.
started the frame with a single lined to right field. Then Joc Pederson chopped a double down the first base line and just past first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s diving attempt to make a highlight reel-worthy snag.
“I threw a fastball in, and he hit a chopper down the line,†Mikolas said. “I mean, he didn’t hit it great. (It’s not as) if he hits a home run or something hard in the gap. I mean, he hit a chopper that Goldy missed by a couple inches.
“He jumps off the bag there to cover more ground and a guy hits a chopper the opposite way of which he’s going and it sneaks down the line. Sometimes that kind of thing happens. That’s baseball.â€
Once the ball got past Goldschmidt, it got into the right field corner and put runners on second and third. Jace Peterson’s sacrifice fly gave the Diamondbacks the game’s first run.
Jake McCarthy followed with a double that looped into right field that drove in Pederson for the second run of the inning.
Mikolas got Blaze Alexander to hit a grounder to first base for the second out of the inning, but back-to-back walks by Tucker Barnhart and Ketel Marte (on four pitches) followed. The walks marked the end of Mikolas’ outing.
Mikolas threw 29 pitches in the fifth and faced seven batters. He fell behind in the count to start against five of those seven batters.
Reliever Andre Pallante entered with the bases loaded and gave up a two-run single on the ground into right field by star outfielder Corbin Carroll. Then Marte scored from third on a wild pitch by Pallante that gave the Diamondbacks their fifth run.
Right-hander Ryan Fernandez, acquired from Boston via the Rule 5 draft this winter, provided perhaps the most critical pitching performance for the bullpen by tossing 2â…“ scoreless innings.
The bullpen had gone shorthanded in the series because left-hander Matthew Liberatore was unavailable because of illness.
Zack Thompson, who began the season as a starter, was available if necessary on Sunday. But he threw 47 pitches over 3â…“ innings in relief on Wednesday. The Cardinals would rather have him available for Monday with Sonny Gray on a limited pitch count in his second start of the season coming off the injured list.
Fernandez didn’t allow a hit, walked one and struck out two batters. In back-to-back appearances Saturday and Sunday, he did not allowed a hit in 3⅓ total innings and struck out three.
In his previous appearance against the Miami Marlins on April 7, he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits, a hit batter and a walk in 1â…“ innings.
“I don’t think I’m any more relaxed than I was before,†Fernandez said. “I kind of just was working on some stuff my last couple outings. The bullpen (Saturday) really is when I found something that really felt comfortable, took it into the game and it has really shown in the results.â€