HOUSTON — With an expedient and flawless inning, Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas put the finishing touches on one of his finer starts of the season.
Though it was just the sixth inning.
After six strong from the veteran right-hander, the Cardinals turned to the big three out of their bullpen to hold on for a 4-2 victory Wednesday afternoon at Minute Maid Park to avoid a sweep by the host Houston Astros. Ryan Helsley put the period on the road trip with an exclamation point on his season so far. The closer retired all three batters he faced in the ninth to secure his 20th save — a new career high.
With JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge as his touring opening acts, Helsley and Co. followed Mikolas (4-6) with three scoreless and hitless innings of relief.
The Cardinals pieced together runs against one of the better pitchers in the American League to take a lead the bullpen wouldn’t ultimately have to hold.
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Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco entered the game with a 5-1 record and a 2.44 ERA, so naturally it was a sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt from the Cardinals’ No. 9 hitter that put the first two scoring rallies in motion. The Cardinals mixed in a few doubles and widened their lead just in time for the bullpen takeover with Nolan Arenado’s third homer of the road trip. His 391-foot blast in the sixth inning ultimately chased Blanco (5-2).
The Cardinals went 4-5 on their longest road trip of the season. They teased returning home with a winning record once on the trip. At 29-31, they return home for a seven-game homestand against Colorado and Pittsburgh with a chance to make it happen there, where it hasn’t happened at all since April 2023.Â
Mikolas quick, quality start — so why only six?
A start several weeks in the making for the Cardinals’ opening day starter, Mikolas put together the snap on his pitches he’s been feeling, the approach he’s been seeking and the results that have sometimes been lacking so far this season.
He breezed through four innings without allowing a runner past second base, and by the time he finished the fifth inning, he’d done so on only 56 pitches.
The Astros tagged the right-hander with back-to-back solo homers in the fifth inning. Yainer Diaz hit his third home run in as many games against the Cardinals to dent Mikolas’ scoreless inning. Trey Cabbage followed with his first homer of the season to trim the Cardinals’ lead down to a run and perhaps explain why Mikolas — so efficient and so otherwise effective — was out of the game after six innings.
Despite concern about the usage of the bullpen and high-leverage relievers, the Cardinals called on that group after six innings despite Mikolas only throwing 62 pitches. The close score, ready relievers, and the Cardinals' intention to avoid being swept with the best available options drove the decision to assign the bullpen the final three innings.
Mikolas allowed only the two runs on two swings.
He struck out three and did not allow a walk.
It was in many ways Mikolas’ most Mikolas start of the season until it didn’t include shouldering the extra inning or two. He got the quality start but not an out more as for the fifth time in his past seven starts he pitched precisely six innings. Only once this season has Mikolas pitched deeper into a game than the sixth inning, and that was his third start of the summer.
Small ball, then big blast
With help from a couple of productive outs from center fielder and No. 9 hitter Michael Siani, the Cardinals opened up a 3-0 lead on the Astros by the midpoint of the game.
In the third inning, a leadoff double from Brandon Crawford gave the bottom of the Cardinals’ lineup the chance to create a run with a few balls in play. Pedro Pages grounded out to move Crawford to third, and Siani delivered a deep fly ball to center field that easily scored Crawford on the sacrifice fly. When their turn came back around in the fifth, they found a similar way to create a run.
Pages worked a nine-pitch walk that concluded with a fastball that the Astros would be justified to think was strike 3. It appeared to catch the zone. Even Pages' initial reaction seemed to allow it probably was a strike. He was awarded the walk.
Siani bunted Pages into scoring position.
Leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan singled to score Pages and double the Cardinals lead. The run was Pages’ first in the big leagues.
Then came the bigger blasts.
The middle of the order announced its contribution to the scoring with a double into the right field corner by Alec Burleson that sent Donovan home from first.
An inning later, the Cardinals answered the Astros' homers with a homer.
Arenado punctuates eventful road trip
Houston left fielder Yordan Alvarez didn’t even flinch in the sixth inning. He might as well as have been at his usual position for the Astros — designated hitter.
When Arenado’s bat made contact with starter Blanco’s pitch, Alvarez did not move in left field. He didn’t have to even look up to know that Arenado’s hit sailed far over him and into the Crawford Boxes at his back. Arenado’s sixth home run of the season regained the a two-run lead for the Cardinals and gave the third baseman a welcome finish to what was a meandering road trip.
Early in the trip, he was elated with homers in back-to-back games.
Late in the trip, he went 0 for 5 in Tuesday’s loss.
In between he had a two-hit game, he had a few errors, and he had one line drive split the laces on his glove on its way to being a base hit that developed into a rally in Philly. The solo homer in the sixth at Minute Maid Park meant that half of Arenado’s home runs this season came over the nine games of the three-city road trip.