After struggling through a June to forget, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas will try to gain a fresh start in July.
Mikolas finished 0-4 with a 6.07 ERA in five starts last month. He will flip the calendar with a tough road assignment against the Miami Marlins Monday at LoanDepot Park.
The Cardinals come into this four-game series after winning two of three games from the New York Yankees at home. Meanwhile the Marlins suffered a three-game sweep at Atlanta against the streaking Braves.
“Overall, our hope is that we can build off of this momentum and get going for the games in Miami,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
“We got our butt kicked this weekend for sure,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “But overall good (3-3) road trip and looking forward to getting back home.”
Mikolas (4-5, 4.44 ERA) allowed five or more runs in three of his last four starts. In a 10-7 loss to the Houston Astros on Wednesday, Mikolas allowed three first-inning runs before the Cardinals surged to a 6-3 lead.
But Mikolas was tagged for two runs in the sixth inning as the Astros rallied.
“Any time we score seven runs, we should win a ballgame,” Mikolas said. “If our offense puts up seven runs and we don’t win, that’s on the pitching staff. You know, I have a rough first inning and they pick me up. And I let them right back into it in the sixth. All of a sudden, it’s a real tight game that we should have just ran away with. I can make better pitches there in the sixth.”
Mikolas is 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA in eight career appearances against the Marlins, including six starts.
The Cardinals will have their hands full against left-hander Braxton Garrett (4-2, 3.53), who has allowed just 11 earned runs in 50 innings over his last nine starts for a 1.98 ERA in that span.
In his previous start, Garrett held the Red Sox to one run on three hits in five innings in an outing cut short by a rain delay in Boston.
“It wasn’t the sharpest I’ve been, but we worked with what we had,” Garrett said. “I felt I was a little bit sinker-heavy, it got me out of some trouble. Not super sharp, but happy with it.”
Garrett is 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals, with 14 hits allowed in nine innings.
The Marlins lost outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. to a left oblique strain Sunday. The team will learn more about his injury Monday.
“Anytime you see somebody grab their side, you’re concerned,” Schumaker said.
Miami made one pitching move Sunday, promoting Jeff Lindgren from Triple-A Jacksonville to get a fresh bullpen arm while demoting George Soriano.
The Cardinals also adjusted their bullpen ahead of the series. Reliever Drew VerHagen (right hip impingement) landed on the 15-day injured list Sunday and JoJo Romero arrived from Triple-A Memphis to replace him.
“I just know by going on the IL now, we can use the All-Star break as part of it,” VerHagen said. “If I bounce back quickly, then those four days off will be helpful. But I’m going to make sure it feels good before I come back.”
–Field Level Media
