Miles Mikolas sets humiliating St. Louis Cardinals record

Luck has not smiled upon the St. Louis Cardinals lately, as they have endured a historically terrible stretch of baseball through late June and early July, failing to score a run in three consecutive games. The pitching has been hot and cold during the stretch, as Andre Pallante's excellent one-run outing was bookended by a seven-run shelling of Erick Fedde and a mediocre start from Sonny Gray, where he surrendered four earned runs.

The Cardinals have pitched a few gems on Apple TV+ in 2025. Fedde threw a shutout against the Washington Nationals on May 9, and Sonny Gray delivered a masterful outing on June 27, allowing only one hit in an otherwise perfect game.

Cardinals fans were hoping the Apple pixie dust would enchant Miles Mikolas in the game against the Chicago Cubs on July 4 at Wrigley Field. Instead, the soft-tossing right-hander proceeded to deliver a spectacle that took the cake as the ugliest outing among Cardinals starting pitchers this season.

Mikolas tied a Cardinals record by allowing six home runs in one game.

The Cubs' six big flies all came in the first three innings, with them hitting two bombs in each inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch hit two home runs apiece, and Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly each hit one. The disastrous outing marked the 11th time in history where a pitcher had allowed six home runs.

Not only was the game among the all-time worst for a Cardinals pitcher, but it was also the first time that the Cubs had hit six home runs in the first three innings of a game.

The Cardinals-Cubs rivalry got off to a great start for St. Louis this season, as an 8-2 win in Game 1 and an outfield gaffe from Crow-Armstrong that ultimately cost Chicago the second game provided Cardinals fans with plenty of ammo going into the second half of the series. Unfortunately, the Cardinals failed to score a run in either of last two games, washing away many of the positive emotions that had built up in St. Louis.

The patriotic Mikolas will certainly feel the pain of hitting rock bottom on American Independence Day, and the Cardinals will face some questions about how they will handle him going forward. The team will look to steer their season back in the right direction on Saturday as Matthew Liberatore takes the mound.