St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals take game one against the Brewers

The St. Louis Cardinals opened up the second series of the year against divisional rival Milwaukee Brewers after a disappointing start to the season in New York.

After starting the season 1-2 the St. Louis Cardinals traveled to Milwaukee to open up a three game series with the Brewers. The Cardinals sent newly acquired Miles Mikolas to the mound for his first start in the majors since leaving MLB to play in Japan. His debut for the team was a bit of a mixed bag.

Mikolas allowed home runs to Manny Pina, Lorenzo Cain and Eric Thames but also struck out five and walked zero on his way to the win. Mikolas looked very good at times, which bodes well for his potential going forward. Expecting his first start to be remotely rough was fair, but Mikolas handled it well for the most part.

As for the bats, after a real rough start to his season in New York, Dexter Fowler was finally able to get his first hit of the season. A bloop over the head of the infield allowed Jedd Gyorko to score in the 3rd. This gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after Gyroko had previously scored Paul Dejong on an RBI double to tie the game at one.

In the bottom of the fourth Mikolas allowed a leadoff double to Travis Shaw. Mikolas, with a little help from his defense, would sit down the next three batters in order and avoid the jam.

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Mikolas didn’t just control the game with his arm. He also did it with his bat. Mikolas had his first career hit. It also happened to be his first career home run. Mikolas hit a 407 foot shot to left field and gave the team a 4-2 lead in the 5th. Jose Martinez continued his success with a sacrifice fly that scored Matt Carpenter  to extended the lead to 5-2.

The Cardinals had no lack of bats today, after chasing off Zach Davies in the top of the 6th. Paul Dejong parked a shot to left for a three run home run that stretch the lead to 8-2.

However, Mikolas seemingly hit a wall in the 6th. He allowed three straight hits before getting out of the inning. One of those hits was a towering shot by Eric Thames which cut the Brewers deficit to four.

Mikolas continued the streak of Cardinal starters unable to get to the 6th inning, but to date he is the closest at 5 2/3 innings. Bud Norris was called on to put out the fire. With runners on the corners, Norris was able to strikeout Orlando Arcia to end the inning and the threat.

The rest of the game was fairly quiet and that was a good thing. Between Bud Norris, Tyler Lyons and Jordan Hicks, the bullpen was able to close the door. The rest of the game wasn’t without excitement though. Yairo Munoz was able to get his first career hit in the top of the ninth, after replacing Greg Garcia at third base.

Next: Cards sign Holland

The Cardinals now bring their record to 2-2 with the series in New York in their rearview mirrors. The Cardinals will be back at it against the Brewers again tomorrow at 6:40. Jack Flaherty will take the mound against Chase Anderson in game two with the Cardinals looking to extend the win streak to three.