By JOE HARRIS, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) – It’s been 21 years since St. Paul’s Cardinals. Louis threw a no hit.
Miles Mikolas needed it once again.
The right-hander did not give up a hit until Cal Mitchell doubled with two outs in the ninth inning on Tuesday night, and the St. The Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to sweep a double head.
“I’m a little over the top. I mean it stinks, get so close and then come out empty-handed,” Mikolas said. “It simply came to our notice then. I will be very proud to have given the bullpen another night’s rest. I know we need it with the double header. I’m happy, but it stinks. “
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Mitchell pushed a curved ball 2-2 over the head of Gold Glove midfielder Harrison Bader and just beyond his glove stretched as the fast Bader tried to make a running catch with his back to the plate.
“If he can’t get it, no one can do it, except maybe one of those guys in the stands when they have like a 3-foot glove, maybe that guy,” Mikolas said. “We’re playing shallowly so they don’t play any. I think that’s what you’re always watching for is that you don’t want to lose it cheap. The guy hit a ball on the court, I’ll give it to him. And it was a good field. “I agree more with that than if the guy blew up a broken bat bleed in there somewhere.”
The ball bounced off the warning court 383 feet from the plate and over the wall in the center straight for a base rule double.
“It went to the left of my glove, a little rolled up,” Bader said. “I was working really hard to try to get some ground back. So yeah, it sucks. But that’s what it is.”
The hit came in Mikolas’ 129th throw: his previous career high was 115 on May 29 against Milwaukee. It was lifted for Packy Naughton, who reached the final to give the Pirates their ninth straight loss.
Mikolas, 33 (5-4), leaned for a moment as Mitchell’s momentum dropped. He put on six, walked one and left with a standing ovation.
Mitchell entered the seventh to play on the right field and got Pittsburgh’s only shot in his only turn in the game.
The Cardinals’ most recent non-hitter was thrown by rookie Bud Smith in a 4-0 win in San Diego on September 3, 2001. The last home was Bob Forsch in 1983.
“I usually talk to guys from the dugout asking them about the plots, like where they were, what they thought, and I didn’t even bother to ask them why no one was turning around to look at me,” Mikolas said. “So one of the things that stinks about this is that I’m sitting there alone all game and, you know, watching Mad Dog (pitching coach Mike Maddux) as the pace going forward. and back. I know it means something, but it can’t. It’s one of those superstitions. “
Pittsburgh got an undeserved run in the fourth and made it 7-1 when Bryan Reynolds scored with a Daniel Vogelbach goal.
Reynolds led the way in the second half when left-hander Juan Yepez made a disastrous appearance. Reynolds advanced to third in a groundout.
Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman made a dive stop in the fourth and an unbalanced throw from the center of the diamond in the sixth to avoid possible hits.
“The stars were lined up by 8 2/3 today and then, you know, no,” Mikolas said.
Mikolas worked a 1-2-3 seventh with the help of a good catch from Bader on the center field fence on Jack Suwinski’s ball. Pittsburgh also fell in order in the eighth.
“He mixed and matched,” Pirates coach Derek Shelton said of Mikolas. “You saw it even at Mitchell’s baptism, he came back and hit 95 (mph) in the 2-0 field. The breaking stuff was really effective.”
Mikolas, who reinvented himself in Japan before becoming a major league All-Star in 2018, has battled injuries in recent seasons. He had never gone over four innings in a major league start without allowing a hit.
“There’s a lot of perseverance in this story,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s doing an amazing job, he’s doing really well, and this is a healthy Miles and it’s fun to watch.”
Paul Goldschmidt was 4 of 4 with two homers and five RBIs for the Cardinals, who have won five of six. Tommy Edman also went deep and Brendan Donovan had his first four-hit game of his career.
Bryse Wilson (0-4) conceded seven runs in five innings for the Pirates.
Goldschmidt homered to JT Brubaker (0-7) and made three runs while St. Louis won 3-1 in the first game of the day-night double.
Yadier Molina had 11 innings in 10 innings and a foul popup, and with 14,870 passed Iván Rodríguez (14,864) for most receivers in major league history. The 39-year-old 10-time All-Star player received a standing ovation with the record when he caught the popup of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ sixth inning.
Pittsburgh made four errors, three from the Diego Castillo shortstop, including poor ground throws in consecutive fields. Only two mistakes came to him.
Matthew Liberatore (2-1) allowed three hits in five goalless innings, putting five in his fourth league start. The 22-year-old left, thrown after 79 pitches, has thrown a ball in both wins, the first against Milwaukee on May 28th.
Giovanny Gallegos made a ninth hit for his ninth save on 12 occasions, finishing with seven hits.
Yu Chang homered for Pittsburgh against Genesis Cabrera in the seventh.
Canaan Smith-Njigba hit Pittsburgh in the ninth inning of the first game and doubled in his Major League debut. His younger brother, Jaxon, was the MVP of this year’s Rose Bowl as a wide receiver from Ohio State.
Donovan, who led the Cardinals in the first game, has appeared in the top nine this season. He has played all four positions on the field plus right and left field.
THE MACHINE STILL WORKED
Albert Pujols played his 1,340th game at first base, tying Jim Bottomley in most Cardinals history. It was also his 1,739th game with the Cardinals, beating Curt Flood as the seventh-most game in franchise history.
Pirates: RHP Heath Hembree (right calf tension) was activated from the injured list. … RHP Duane Underwood Jr. was included in the list of injured by COVID-19 on Monday.
Cardinals: LHP Steven Matz (left shoulder impact) received an injection in his AC joint after playing a catch and is scheduled to throw back on the flat ground on Wednesday.
RHP Cardinals Jack Flaherty (right shoulder) will make his season debut at the end of the series on Wednesday night instead of starting a third minor league rehab. It is expected to have a limit of about 60 releases. RHP Roansy Contreras (1-1-, 2.57) pitches for Pittsburgh.
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