MILWAUKEE — The latest example about how misleading spring training statistics can be comes courtesy of Tommy Edman.
Edman hit his third homer in the sixth game of the season on Friday night as the Cardinals routed the Brewers in Milwaukee.
The three homers, which have helped him post a .368 average to start the season, came after Edman had only two hits in 24 at-bats during the spring – one double and one single.
The fifth-inning homer, a two-run shot, briefly tied Edman with Nolan Arenado for the team lead before Arenado hit his fourth of the year in the ninth inning.
Here is how Friday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals built a 4-0 lead in the first inning, the rally beginning with a Tyler O’Neill double with two outs and nobody on base. They took advantage of two walks before Harrison Bader and Andrew Knizner each delivered two-run singles … Paul Goldschmidt doubled in a run before he scored on a single by Arenado to increase the lead to 6-0 in the second … O’Neill and Knizner each had three hits in the Cardinals’ 14-hit attack … Edmundo Sosa made his first start of the season and added a pair of singles.
On the mound: Bouncing back from a poor start, Miles Mikolas pitched into the seventh inning. He allowed only two baserunners, on a single by Rowdy Tellez in the second and a walk to Tellez in the sixth, before giving up two hits in the seventh. One of those runners scored after Nick Wittgren relieved. Mikolas finished with seven strikeouts … Andre Pallante worked the final two innings.
Key stat: Arenado’s three RBIs increased his total after six games to 12, the most in the NL and the most by a Cardinal after six games since Scott Rolen had 13 in 2004.
Worth noting: Christian Yelich struck out in all four of his at-bats, three of them coming against Mikolas. It was the third time in his career Yelich struck out four times, the first time he had done that against the Cardinals… The Cardinals have now scored in the first inning in five of their six games… Nick Plummer, the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2015 who signed with the Mets as a free agent over the winter, made his major-league debut on Friday. He was promoted from Triple A when two players went on the Covid list and got into the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning.
Looking ahead: Steven Matz, who like Mikolas struggled in his first game, will get the start on Saturday night.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains.
