By MATT PIKE
Thursday night at Busch Stadium may well have simultaneously felt like a breath of fresh air for Cardinals fans and an unwelcome rerun for Nationals fans.
Whatever his struggles have been thus far this season, Miles Mikolas has a habit of adjusting his attitude in a matchup with Natitude, evidenced by his 5 2/3 scoreless innings provided in St. Louis’ 8-1 series-clinching victory over the Nationals.
It was Mikolas’ second start this season against Washington, and a worthy sequel to the 5 1/3 one-run innings in DC on May 11. After surrendering a leadoff double to Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams, Mikolas did not allow another baserunner, or another ball in play to leave the infield, until Paul DeJong singled with one out in the fifth.
The Cardinals started the scoring in the first inning, Brendan Donovan singling to lead off the inning and later scoring on a groundout by Alec Burleson. In the third inning, it was the same combo that extended the lead as Donovan again led the inning off with a single, but this time Burleson singled to to drive in Donovan, who had advanced on a wild pitch, to push the St. Louis lead to 2-0.
A big sixth inning helped the Cardinals put the game away behind their strong pitching, putting up five runs in the inning. Three consecutive hits to open the inning extended the lead as Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, and Nolan Arenado all singled, Arenado's hit scoring Contreras. After a walk to Nolan Gorman loaded the bases, Yohel Pozo singled to left field driving in Nootbaar.
Leading 4-0 now with the bases still loaded, Victor Scott II grounded into a forceout, Pozo being thrown out at second and Scott making it to first safely, adding another run as Arenado scored. And with runners still on the corners, the scoring barrage continued with a sacrifice fly by Donovan, bringing home Gorman. Scott stole second base, and a double by Masyn Winn put up the final run of the inning driving in the speedy center fielder.
St. Louis finished their scoring in the seventh inning putting up their final run with the first batter of the inning, Contreras sending a ball sailing through the air to center field for his 12th home run of the season. The Nationals scored their lone run in the eighth inning, Jacob Young driving in Daylen Lile with a forceout.
Mikolas improved to 5-6 on the season pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings giving up just two hits while striking out six and walking one. At the plate, Donovan was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Winn was also 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Contreras was 2-for-4 with the home run and an RBI.
In some injury news for the Cardinals, Iván Herrera joined Triple-A Memphis for a rehab assignment on Thursday, set to play the final four games before the All-Star break for the Redbirds at designated hitter as he recovers from a strained left hamstring.
He is not scheduled to catch for Memphis, nor do the Cardinals plan to put him behind the plate for any significant action for the remainder of the 2025 season as they look to protect the slugger’s lower body while keeping his bat in the lineup.
“We have to definitely keep that in mind as far as if we want to keep him healthy for the remaining couple months,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We’ve talked about that. We haven’t come up with, like, 'This is exactly what it will look like,' but we’re pretty close to [not catching].”
Herrera has had a breakout season at the plate derailed by two separate injuries to his left leg. He suffered a bone bruise in his knee on April 6 in Boston when attempting to run from first to third base on a base hit, and then strained his hamstring on June 19 in Chicago when rounding first base after a hit against the White Sox.
Between the injuries, Herrera has slugged eight home runs and driven in 36 runs, powered by a .320 batting average and a .925 OPS that are far and away the team’s best totals by everyday position players.
St. Louis begins a series against Atlanta tomorrow at Busch Stadium for the final games before the All Star Break. Matthew Liberatore (6-6, 3.70 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Grant Holmes (4-8, 3.44 ERA) for the Braves. First pitch is at 7:15pm, coverage will be joined near the start at 7:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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