Mikolas grinds out 5 IP in 1st start vs. Bucs since near no-no

PITTSBURGH -- The last time Miles Mikolas faced the Pirates, he was on the precipice of history.

But on Friday night at PNC Park, Mikolas had to labor quite a bit more than that memorable night in June, needing 100 pitches to get through five innings and allowing four runs in a 8-2 loss to the Bucs.

Mikolas came within an out of a no-hitter on June 14 at Busch Stadium, where, down to the Pirates’ final strike, Cal Mitchell lined a double just past the outstretched glove of Harrison Bader. It was a start that showed Mikolas’ high ceiling, one that he flashed most clearly in 2018, when he recorded a 2.83 ERA over 32 starts.

If that showed him at his best, then Friday night showed how he goes into grind mode when things aren’t quite as straightforward. Mikolas had one clean inning, a 1-2-3 first, and then it was time to fight through some higher-leverage at-bats.

The first damage came on the second pitch of the second inning to Ben Gamel, who lifted a low changeup to the seats in center field. Mikolas rebounded well with two of his eight strikeouts, the most the primarily ground-ball out pitcher had recorded since June 25.

“They’re a free-swinging team,” Mikolas said. “But I got into a lot of deep counts, and I’d have rather preferred some early contact and early outs as opposed to strikeouts.”

Another leadoff batter reached in the third, this time Cal Mitchell on a walk. Walks are not a common feature in Mikolas’ starts; entering his start vs. the Pirates, he had the sixth-lowest walk rate per nine innings (1.58) among all qualified starters. However, after a sharp double by Oneil Cruz, he escaped it with the help of an infield defense that has been very reliable throughout the season.

But it wasn’t former Gold Glove Award winners Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt or Tommy Edman. It was rookie second baseman Brendan Donovan, who made a quick dive to his right to snare a 97 mph line drive and toss to second base -- which somehow wasn’t even the best double play the Cardinals turned.

“That’s a really good play,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We played good defense. [Donovan’s] continued to work out regardless of where we’ve put him -- second, third, outfield -- and it was nice to see him come up with that.”

Mikolas once again stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth, but the baserunners finally caught up to him in the fifth, as four straight Pirates recorded hits, including a rocketed two-run triple from Cruz.

The Cardinals starter was working with a limited arsenal, as he said he’s been working through some issues with his slider, which he only threw 13 times. That effectively made him a three-pitch pitcher for much of his start, pairing his fastball and sinker with a curveball he’s worked to get better results with in recent starts.

The work he put in on his curveball and the showing it has had recently has him confident he can get his slider right.

“The good thing is I’ve got an extra day before my next start, so I’ve got some extra time to work on it. I worked on my curveball a lot between my start [two starts ago] and my last one against the Cubs. [Hopefully] I can do the same with my slider and get it locked in for my next go round.”

Back-to-back games with deficits that got out of hand is not what the Cardinals want to see, but it’s important to keep perspective of just how well this team has done in recent months. Their losses in two consecutive games this week marked the first time since July 24th and 26th they’ve dropped two games in a row.

The team has built a strong lead in the National League Central title race. The Cardinals still have a pennant to win, but on the roll they’ve been on to get the cushion they have, it’s also about getting individual performances into tip-top shape for what they hope to be a deep postseason run, like the way Mikolas among others are prepared to work to refine.

“It’s the first time we’ve lost two games in a long time,” Marmol said. “We’ll come out tomorrow and do exactly what we did today as far as preparation and get after it.”