ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals begin a three-game weekend series with the New York Mets at Citi Field tonight as they begin an 11-day, eight-game international road trip through New York City, the nation’s capital to play the Nationals (June 19-21), and across the pond in London, England to face the division-rival Cubs (June 24-25) … St. Louis recently went 1-5 on its six-game homestand with Cincinnati (1-2) and San Fransisco (0-3).
FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals have lost five straight and enter today in last place in the NL Central, 8.0 games behind 1st place Pittsburgh and 4.5 games behind 4th place Chicago … St. Louis is at its low watermark of the season at 15-games below .500 … The Cardinals have spent 51 of 78 days in last place on this season’s MLB schedule (April 26-May 19 and May 29-present) … This season is the Cardinals slowest start since beginning 24-45 (.348) in 1978.
THE BIG APPLE: Despite a 22-26 all-time record at Citi Field, St. Louis enters tonight winners of eight of their last 12 games in Queens while outscoring the Mets 70-50 … With a victory tonight, the Cardinals will have won their 200th road game in New York over the Mets (199-181 record) … The last time the Cardinals and Mets played each other with both teams having losing records was July 20, 2017 (STL 46-48 & NYM 42-50); the latest in the season for both to have losing records and face off was Oct. 5, 1980 (STL 73-88 & NYM 67-94).
CARDS ACQUIRE PALACIOS: The Cardinals announced today that they acquired infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios (pah-LAH-see-ohs) from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations … The 26-year-old Brooklyn, New York native will be optioned to Memphis (AAA) as outfielder Tyler O’Neill (left lower back strain) is transferred to the 60-Day Injured List … Originally selected by Cleveland in the 3rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft from Towson University, the left-handed-hitting Palacios is batting .217/.351/.318 (47-217) in 56 games for Columbus (AAA) this season … Palacios appeared in 54 games over four stints for Cleveland last season, appearing between second base and left field.
MR. MET: Among Major Leaguers with at least 100 career plate appearances vs. the Mets, Paul DeJong ranks 2nd all-time in slugging pct. (.710) to only Mark McGwire (.742) while ranking T-6th in OPS (1.064) … Among all MLB players with 50+ plate appearances at Citi Field (2009-present), DeJong ranks 3rd in slugging (.681) and 5th in OPS (.981) … DeJong has homered in five of 12 career games in Queens, while 21 of his 35 overall hits off Mets pitching have gone for extra bases. (chart left).
GOING STREAKING: Nolan Arenado is hitting .362/.422/.690 (20-53) with four homers, one triple, five doubles, five walks, 10 RBI, and a 1.112 OPS during his current 16-game on-base streak (May 27-present) … The 16-gamer is MLB’s 2nd-longest active behind Shohei Ohtani (19) and is Arenado’s best since reaching base safely in 16 games in a row from Sept. 24, 2022-April 9, 2023.
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP MILES MIKOLAS (4-3, 4.02)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Games Started (14, T-4th), Innings Pitched (74.2, 11th), Hits Allowed (92,
2nd), Walks/9 IP (1.90, 2nd).
- The 2022 N.L. All-Star is making his team-high 15th start of 2023, 158th career appearance & 129th career start.
- Is one win shy of 50 for his career and two strikeouts shy of 600 career.
- Allowed five runs in his most recent start vs. CIN (6/10) after allowing five runs total in the four preceding starts. Snapped a string of 10 consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or less (4-0, 2.24 ERA, 60.1 IP – 4/16-6/4).
- Has not allowed a home run in his last four starts (29.0 IP); 2nd-longest active homerless stretch among Cardinals pitchers behind Jack Flaherty (32.0 IP).
- Had both his season-best 4-game win streak and season-best 16.0 scoreless innings streak snapped in his start at PIT (6/4) in morning Peacock game.
- Ranks 3rd among all-time Busch Std. III leaders in ERA (2.87; min. 300 IP), T9th in all-time wins (21) & 8th in innings pitched (367.1).
- Finished May 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in six starts, ranking among MLB leaders in innings pitched (38.0, 2nd), ERA (5th), and wins (T-7th).
- Leads the Cardinals in wins (4) and innings pitched (80.2).
- Has received no more than three runs of support in 12 of his 14 starts this season including back-to-back zeroes. Ranks 3rd in the NL in lowest per game run support avg. (3.24). The Cardinals have played to 2-1 decisions (2-wins, 1 loss) in three straight games started (5/25-6/4).
- Has allowed 10 of his 37 runs in the 1st inning (6.43 ERA, .365 BA); His ERA after the opening inning is 3.51 (26 ER/66.2 IP).
- Since joining the Cardinals in 2018, Mikolas ranks 2nd in MLB (min. 600 IP) in fewest walks (128) behind only Justin Verlander (122). His 1.62 walks/9 IP narrowly trails Zack Greinke (1.62) by a fraction of a percentage.
- Was one of 10 MLB pitchers and two Cardinals (Wainwright) with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct. (31 total chances) in 2022. Hasn’t committed an error since 8/2/18 vs. COL. One of two pitchers with 100 total chances and zero errors since 8/3/18 (Erick Fedde, WSH). Ranks 9th among MLB pitchers in fielding pct. (.987) since 2018. (min. 100 TC).
- Ranks 2nd behind only Adam Wainwright (2,593.2 IP) in most innings pitched (707.1) among active Cardinals.
LAST TIME OUT
- Surrendered five runs on seven hits in an 8-4 loss vs. CIN (6/10). Gave up a two-out bases loaded double to Luke Maile in the 2nd inning and the Cardinals never recovered. Surpassed 800 career innings after his seventh out of the game.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
6/10 CIN L 8-4 L-3 6.0 7 5 5 2 2 0 98-62
2023
- Did not allowed more than three runs in 10 starts (4/16-6/4) with a 4-0 record, 2.24 ERA over 60.1 innings pitched..
- Matched career high 10 strikeouts over 8.0 scoreless IP in 2-1 win vs. Kansas City on 5/30, his longest scoreless outing of the season and third overall. Was his 4th straight winning decision and extended his scoreless innings streak to a team-high 16.0 innings.
- Fired 7.0 scoreless innings of five-hit ball en route to a 2-1 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park (5/25). Was his 2nd straight 7.0-inning outing.
- Posted his second straight start of allowing one run as the Cardinals rolled to a 9-1 win in a three-game sweep of Boston at Fenway Park (5/14). Did not strike out a batter in a start of 6.0 innings or more for the first time in his career and was 3rd pitcher to do that in 2023 (Kyle Gibson & Rich Hill).
- Signed a two-year contract extension through 2025 on March 24.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
No team release available.
