ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals continue their 7-game tour of the Buckeye State today with the finale of a 4-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park…the roadtrip will continue this weekend with a 3-game set against the Cleveland Guardians…the Cardinals dropped a 10-3 decision last night and are 1-2 in the series, winning 8-5 on Tuesday following Monday’s 6-5 defeat in 10 innings…this week’s series with the Reds marks the first meeting of the season between the two clubs…it’s the latest in the season the two NL Central rivals have met for their initial series since doing so in June of 2004.
ROAD TRIPPING REDBIRDS: This week’s roadtrip began a stretch in which they will be playing 13 of 15 games on the road (May 22-June 7)…their only two home games over that time span are with cross-state rival Kansas City on Memorial Day, May 29, and Tuesday, May 30.
FLIGHT PATTERN: Winners of 12 of their last 17 games (May 7-present), the Cardinals enter today in tied with the Reds for 4th place in the NL Central, 6.0 games behind first place Milwaukee…St. Louis had drawn to within 5.0 games of the division lead as recently as Wednesday, gaining 5.0 games in the division since May 7… The Cardinals were in last place for 24 straight days (April 25-May 20) … Today’s game is the 14th game of a season-high stretch of 19 consecutive without an off-day (9-4 record).
REDBIRD RESURGENCE: Since May 7, the Cardinals are T-1st in MLB in win pct. (.706, 12-5), 1st in runs scored (117), 1st in runs per game (6.9), 2nd in slugging (.503), 1st in OPS (.851), 1st in RBI (113), 1st in total bases (297), tied for the MLB lead in wins (12) and rank 2nd in stolen bases (20), homers (34).
LONDON CALLING: The Cardinals will be taking part in a two-game series in London, England a month from now (June 24-25) when they host the Chicago Cubs in an international series…the two teams were slated to play in London in 2020 before the pandemic cancelled much of the MLB season. For the Cardinals, it will mark their first trip to Europe. The Cardinals have previously \layed in showcase regular season game in Monterray, Mexico (2019) vs. CIN, Williamsport, Pennsylvania (2017) vs. PIT at the Little League World Series, and in Honolulu, Hawaii (1997) vs. SD in the Padres Paradise Series.
CLOSE CALLS: Monday night’s 6-5 10-inning loss was the Cardinals 29th by a one-run margin here at Great American Ball Park…the Cardinals have posted 18 one-run victories at GABP all-time, and hold a slim 86-85 advantage in all-time games played here since the ballpark’s opening in 2003.
BURGER PHONE HOTLINE: The Cardinals are 5th in MLB in home runs this season (72) this season while ranking 2nd in the month of May (40) to the Yankees (44)… The Redbirds sport a 19-15 record in games when they go yard this season, but are 3-14 in homerless games.
REDBIRD RIBEYES: The Cardinals have had six players enjoy 4+ RBI games in the last 11 games, as Andrew Knizner (4), Nolan Gorman (5), Nolan Arenado (4), Willson Contreras (6), Paul DeJong (4, twice) and Óscar Mercado (5) all had games with 4 or more RBI in that span.
GOLDY’S POWER PAIRINGS: For the third time this season, Paul Goldschmidt packed multiple HR’s into his game, hitting a pair of round-trippers Tue. night in his 1st two at-bats…Goldy has had three consecutive multiple homer games when he has gone deep…he’s had two games when he’s homered just once in a game (last 4/18 vs. ARI) and has combined to hit his 9 HR’s in just 5 games, with 7 of the 9 longballs coming in his three multi-HR contests. SOLO ARTIST: Eight of Goldschmidt’s 9 HR’s this season have been solo shots.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP MILES MIKOLAS (2-1, 4.77)
TODAY’S GAME
NL Ranks: Hits Allowed (67, 3rd), ER allowed (29, T-9th)
- The 2022 N.L. All-Star is making his team-high 11th start of 2023, 154th career appearance & 126th career start.
- Has held his opposition to three runs or fewer in seven consecutive starts since April 16 (2.45 ERA, 40.1 IP) after starting the season with a 10.05 ERA in his initial three starts (14.1 IP).
- Limited his opposition to one run or fewer in 3 of his last 5 starts (2.01 ERA, 29.1 IP).
- Is 2-0 with a 3.67 ERA (27.0 IP) and 20 strikeouts in five starts on the road.
- Ranks 2nd behind only Adam Wainwright (2,588.2 IP) in most innings pitched (686.1) among active Cardinals.
- Shares Cardinals lead with two wins since April 27 (Wainwright, Helsley, VerHagen).
- Received no more than three runs of support in 8 of his 10 starts this season.
- Has allowed eight of his 30 runs in the 1st inning (7.20 ERA, .378 BA).
- Since joining the Cardinals in 2018, Mikolas ranks 2nd in MLB (min. 600 IP) in fewest walks (125) behind only Justin Verlander (114). His 1.64 walks/9 IP in that span ranks 3rd tied behind Zack Greinke (1.62) and Verlander (1.60).
- Was one of 10 MLB pitchers and two Cardinals (Wainwright) with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct. (31 total chances) in 2022. Hasn’t made an error since 8/2/18 vs. COL, and he’s 9th among MLB pitchers in fielding pct. (.986) since 2018. (min. 100 TC).
- Signed a two-year contract extension through 2025 on March 24.
LAST TIME OUT
- Allowed three runs over a season-high 7.0 innings in a no-decision in last Saturday’s last at-bat 6-5 win over the Dodgers at Busch Stadium s Nolan Gorman broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run home run in the 8th inning.
- Did not walk a batter for the 3rd time in 2023.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
5/20 LAD W 6-5 — 7.0 6 3 3 0 2 1 100-69
2023
- 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 of a start of 6.0 innings or more for the first time in his career and the 3rd pitcher to do that in 2023 (Kyle Gibson & Rich Hill).
- Allowed at least 5 runs and 9 hits in each of his first three starts – first pitcher in MLB to begin a season with three such starts since Alex Cobb (2018, BAL). Became the 16th pitcher in Cardinals history to start a season allowing five or more runs in his first three starts and first since Brett Tomko (2003).
- Received a no decision on 4/11 at COL, departing the game after 5.0 IP and trailing 6-2 after allowing three HR’s tying his career-high. Tied his season-high with 10 hits allowed
- Recorded his 500th career strikeout in the National League on Opening Day.
- Drew his 2nd career Opening Day start (3/30) and had a no-decision in the Cardinals 10-9 loss to Toronto that featured five lead changes.
- Was a 3-0 with 0.00 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts this season, allowing just one unearned run in his 12.0 IP. 123 of his 133 pitches thrown this spring were strikes
CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
No release available.
