The St. Louis Cardinals turned to right-hander Miles Mikolas on Thursday hoping to avoid a series loss against the Cincinnati Reds.
True to form, the veteran right-hander gave the team seven scoreless innings, marking just the third time this season that the Cards have had a starter complete seven innings.
St. Louis got some clutch hitting from the red-hot Nolan Gorman and won by a final of 2-1.
Mikolas earned his third win of the year.
After the game, the 34-year-old discussed what was working for him as he kept the struggling Reds at bay in the series finale between the two teams.
Mikolas went seven scoreless despite feeling like he got off to a slow start: “I feel like I didn’t really wake up and find my better fastball until the third inning. Those 12:30 games will get you. … But my location and the movement on things were good early.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/baI6SDN8c7
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Mikolas said that the key for him to get deeper into games is the keep the ball down in the strike zone and force hitters to chase low pitches, specifically referencing his fastball and what he can do to get strikeouts.
He also stressed the importance of being efficient and praised his teammates for their solid work on the field in Thursday’s win at Great American Ballpark.
Mikolas stated that he believed he didn’t have his best fastball working until about the third inning.
He then joked and said that the early afternoon starts sometimes take their toll on pitchers, saying that sometimes it takes a little bit of extra effort when games start early in the day.
In the end, Mikolas lowered his ERA to 4.23 thanks to his seven shutout innings.
He allowed just five hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out five as he led St. Louis to a win.
