5 thoughts after Cardinals avoid sweep to the Giants

4. Miles Mikolas has an outting to build upon

Mikolas improved his season record to 1-1 after Thursday's win again the Giants.

Mikolas pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four hits and two walks. He threw six strikeouts and induced seven swings and misses while earning his first quality start of the season. Mikolas's ERA improved to 5.97.

Mikolas was also assisted by this nifty defensive gem from Andrew Knizner.

Manager Oli Marmol was pleased with Mikolas, noting this was the version of the pitcher fans had expected to see. Marmol was delighted with the results Mikolas got when using his slider to induce swings, and misses, and strikeouts.

This was certainly an appearance Mikolas can use to build on.

3. Where is Nolan Arenado?

The conspiracy theorists of Twitter will tell you he is just feeling upset that he didn't opt out of his contract this offseason for more money. In reality, Nolan Arenado is having a difficult time at the plate, even opting for an unusual off day just to work on hitting and clearing his mind.

Arenado was out of the lineup on Monday getting that work in, but he still struggled at the plate. He was 0-for-four on Tuesday with a strikeout. On Wednesday, he was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. On Thursday, he was one for five with a run scored and one strikeout.

Thursday's hit-and-run was a good turn of events. The team is not accustomed to seeing Arenado struggle. Especially while the whole team is also working to do batter, hopefully, a trip to his home area of southern California to play the Dodgers will be good for Arenado. Hopefully, he can break out. The Cardinals need his bat in addition to his defense.

2. Thusday provided a needed win

The Cardinals got off to a slow start once again but once the scoring began, the pitching locked in to close out a victory. With Mikolas going a clean 6.1 innings, the offense stayed quiet until the seventh inning.

Alec Burleson hit a homer on a fly to right field in the seventh inning. The home run traveled 385 feet at 102.3 mph. Later that inning, the Cardinals challenged a play at first base. The ruling on the field was overturned, resulting in a single from Tommy Edman, which allowed Paul DeJong to score.

In the eighth inning, Dylan Carlson doubled to left field, scoring Nolan Arenado. Paul DeJong then knocked his second home run of the season on a fly to left center field. The blast scored Carlson and traveled 369 feet at a cool 98.7 mph.

In ninth inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit into a force out, which allowed Tommy Edman to score.

In addition to Mikolas' solid effort, they also got some good innings from their bullpen. Genesis Cabrera pitched 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and a walk, while striking out two batters. Drew VerHagen pitched the ninth inning, striking out two batters. This was a great effort from the two relievers who powered through to hold on to Mikolas's victory.

1. That was a disasterous series.

Yes, Thursday's win was great. But the rest of the series was shockingly disappointing.

Jordan Montgomery had a solid effort Monday, going six innings. He gave up five hits, a walk, and a run while striking out six batters. Drew VerHagen came to calm things down in the seventh, but gave up two hits and a walk, allowing three runs to score, including a home run from JD Davis.

After all the runs were scored, Marmol decided to bring Jordan Hicks to an apparent low-leverage situation in the ninth. While he gave up a hit, Hicks did strike out two batters.

Tuesday evening was a real gut punch for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals were able to tie the game at one all in the third inning with a home run off the bat of Tommy Edman. This was his fourth home run of the season. The blast traveled 408 feet at 103.8 mph. The Giants retook the lead in the fourth inning as Jake Woodford gave up a home run to Mike Yastrzemski.

The Cardinals were trying to make things interesting in the eighth inning as Tyler O'Neill hit a double to right field, scoring Dylan Carlson. The Cardinals took the lead when Paul Goldschmidt singled to left field, scoring Tommy Edman and O'Neill. The Cardinals were in the lead 4-2.

Yaz doubled for the Giants to score Joc Pederson, scoring 4-3. The Cardinals could still hold on for a victory with their closer, Ryan Helsley. Right? Not so much, Blake Sabol hit a walk-off home run to center field to score Yaz and give the Giants a 5-4 win.

That was an absolute gut punch to watch.

The Cardinals got off to a great start Wednesday as Paul Goldschmidt homered twice for the team. In the first inning, he hit a home run to left-center field 397 feet at 109.6 mph. Goldschmidt's second homer came in the third inning on a fly to center field 425 feet at 107.2 mph.

In the fourth inning, Steven Matz seemed to lose control. He gave up a home run to LaMonte Wade Jr. He allowed a single to Austin Slater to left field, scoring Blake Sabol. In the fifth inning, Jordan Hicks threw a wild pitch, allowing Mitch Haniger to score. This apparently wasn't a low-leverage enough situation.

Zack Thompson gave up a home run to Wilmer Flores to continue the disappointment, scoring Haniger. In the eighth inning, the Cardinals lost a challenge resulting in a single from Michael Conforto, which scored Thairo Estrada. Later that inning, Wade tripled to score Conforto.

In the ninth, the Cardinals tried to make things interesting as Paul DeJong knocked a double to left field, scoring Alec Burleson. Unfortunately, that was all the Cardinals could muster in their comeback attempt.

While Thursday's win was great, fans hope it will be a stepping stone to a better ending to this long road trip as they take on the Dodgers.