ST. LOUIS -- For only the second time this season, the Cardinals have their top three starters healthy at the right time. That’s what Miles Mikolas accomplished with his first pitch of Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Pirates at Busch Stadium.

Upon his 84th pitch, he accomplished something arguably more important: He got through his start -- just his second since the 2019 NLCS and his first since May 22 -- healthy, and without much in the way of restrictions.

That’s what the Cardinals will take away from Friday’s showing, that their 32-year-old under contract through 2023 can start to pitch worry-free from the forearm and shoulder issues (three combined, to be exact) that have plagued him since July 2020.

Mikolas exited his last start, on May 22, after just four innings, feeling his forearm tighten up. He left after 84 throws with two unearned runs on Friday, though he may have wanted to go deeper.

“It felt good to come off the field kind of on my own terms,” Mikolas said.

Unfortunate for St. Louis is that it failed to do much to support their right-hander in his five-inning return to action -- or keep pace in the NL Wild Card chase. The offense was shut out for as many frames by right-hander Mitch Keller, who entered the night with a 6.86 ERA in 15 starts. And though Harrison Bader made a pair of Statcast-rated four-star plays to aid Mikolas, his second error of the season resulted in a pair of unearned runs for the starter.

Most positive for Mikolas is that his night ended when his performance called for it. Pulled at 84 pitches, right along where his final rehab start ended, Mikolas will be watched to ensure that he comes out healthy from his re-debut. Early such reports are positive. But given that his last start ended as a result of injury, five innings and two unearned runs is a worthwhile consolation.

“I feel pretty normal, little tired,” Mikolas added. “Standard pitching-type soreness. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Frustrating on the night, though, was mostly everything else. St. Louis went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 men on base -- including the bases loaded in the second and two men on in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings -- unable to score on 10 hits compared to Pittsburgh’s four.

It was the Cardinals’ eighth time being shut out on the year and only their second time since July 22, having also been blanked by the Brewers on Tuesday.

They were the first team in MLB this season to rap off at least 10 hits in a game and not score a run.

“Game makes no sense some days,” said manager Mike Shildt.

Mikolas’ night needed a second to ignite. He sailed his first pitch a tad by Yadier Molina to nail home plate umpire CB Bucknor in the mask. He then walked his first batter on seven pitches and hit the third batter he faced.

A pair of Bader plays bailed him out, sure, but Mikolas eased in as he went on. Averaging 93.2 mph on his fastball (and maxing out at 96) as he made sure not to pitch too full-bore from how he hurt himself in Spring Training, Mikolas retired the final six batters he faced, and really only ran into trouble in one more inning, when Bader’s misplay led to a pair of runs in the fourth.

“Getting through that first inning, having some traffic. … it's not like they're necessarily beating me,” Mikolas said, “so I knew that I could take that feeling -- if I just could be a little bit better throwing strikes, get ahead early in the count, then I could do my best to control the game from there on out.”

Hope for the Cardinals can turn back to positive now knowing that they have options, with a rotation as healthy as it’s been all season. They are still missing Carlos Martínez, who is not looking likely to return this year, but the team will soon return Kwang Hyun Kim and Wade Leblanc, both taking steps forward from their respective elbow injuries.

“Look at us go, what a luxury,” said Shildt pregame, “starting pitching.”

“Better late than never,” Mikolas said. “And you kind of hope it's not too late.”