The Cardinals have bounced back from a bad road trip in a big way, returning home to win two big games against the Padres and move to within a game and a half of the final Wild Card spot.
Tonight, Miles Mikolas took the ball and gave the Cardinals five scoreless innings before turning things over to Steven Matz for the next inning. Phil Maton, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley then kept the Padres off the board in the final two innings to secure a 3-0 win.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Yohel Pozo grounded one to Xander Bogaerts with runners on second and third and nobody out. That ultimately proved to be the difference.
Masyn Winn drove in a pair with his 21st double of the year in the bottom of the fourth. That made it a 3-0 game, and it was all the Cardinals needed to pick up a key win. Let’s break this one down.
Mikolas bounces back
While I think it’s fair for fans to be frustrated by what they’ve seen out of Miles Mikolas, unlike the recently DFA’d Erick Fedde, he has at least shown signs of life. He pitched a gem against the Nationals before the All-Star break and followed up a clunker in Arizona with a gem tonight against one of the best lineups in baseball.
He allowed seven hits and recorded a strikeout over five scoreless innings. He also didn’t allow a walk.
This is certainly an encouraging sign. As I stated earlier, unlike Fedde, Mikolas has shown some signs of improvement. He did a great job keeping the ball on the ground and using the Cardinals defense to his advantage.
After allowing a base hit to Manny Machado to start the sixth, he gave way to Matz, who kept the Padres in check.
Trade chips boost their value
I stated this morning in my blog post that it appears the Cardinals have made the decision to sell at the trade deadline and how I think it’s the right move. But all the remaining trade chips certainly boosted their value tonight.
Matz has struggled a little bit in recent weeks, but he worked around a base hit to throw a scoreless sixth inning. After allowing another hit in the seventh, Maton came in the game and gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed, another scoreless inning.
Finally, Romero pitched a scoreless eighth and Helsley shut the door in the ninth, earning his 21st save in 26 opportunities.
This was encouraging to see. Given that the bullpen was a little taxed after last night and that three of the relievers used tonight were used the game before, I was a little surprised to see them again tonight. But I have to think it was a strategic move to boost everybody’s trade value.
The Cardinals know they have to get good returns for these guys, and their performances tonight certainly helped.
Benches clear
Early in the game, there were some fireworks. Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch from Nick Pivetta in the bottom of the second, which sparked the rally, and also a heated exchange.
Contreras took exception to the pitch, even though there was likely no intent. But I do understand his frustration. He’s been hit by a lot of pitches this year. What’s more frustrating though is that the Cardinals pitchers aren’t retaliating. I don’t want to be that guy that wants pound and flesh, but at a certain point, Contreras’ teammates need to stick up for him.
The benches and bullpens briefly emptied. Pivetta and Contreras continued to have words while Oli Marmol and Mike Shildt talked things over with the umpiring crew, who promptly warned both benches.
That also seemed to upset Pivetta, who let the umpires hear it after the fact. Soon, order was restored, and the game continued.
The Cardinals try for a series win behind Matthew Liberatore tomorrow at 6:15.