PHOENIX — Sunday’s Game Report: Diamondbacks 5, Cardinals 0
It’s a statistic that kind of defies explanation, but it is something which can’t really be ignored either.
When Miles Mikolas starts for the Cardinals, there is a good chance that the Cardinals’ offense is not going to score any runs in the game.
It happened again on Sunday against the Diamondbacks – for the second consecutive start and for the 33rd time, in 154 career starts since Mikolas joined the Cardinals.
Mikolas cruised through the first four innings in the game in Arizona, allowing only one hit and facing the minimum 12 batters, but couldn’t navigate a rough fifth inning.
He gave up two runs before coming out of the game with the bases loaded and all three inherited runners scored against Andre Pallante as the Diamondbacks went on to win the game.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: For the second game in a row the Cardinals couldn’t get a bit hit when they needed it. They loaded the bases with one out in the second but saw Brandon Crawford called out on strikes and Michael Siani ground out to end the threat … They also got a leadoff double from Willson Contreras in the fourth, but he was stranded at third base … That was the Cardinals’ last hit in the game as the Diamondbacks retired 18 of their last 19 hitters, with the only baserunner, Lars Nootbaar, reaching on a walk leading off the seventh.
On the mound: The trouble against Mikolas in the fifth began with a single by Christian Walker and double by Joc Pederson. Mikolas then gave up a sacrifice fly in front of a run-scoring double. Back-to-back two-out walks ended his day before Pallante allowed a two-run single on his first pitch and then uncorked a wild pitch to allow the fifth run of the inning to score … Ryan Fernandez did not allow a hit over the final 2 1/3 innings, giving up one walk while strikint out two.
Key stat: The Cardinals had only one hit in seven at-bats with a runner in scoring position, a single by Ivan Herrera in the second that loaded the bases. In the last two games of the series they were a combined 2-of-17 with a man on second or third, dropping their average in those situations for the season to .224 (28-of-125).
Worth noting: The Cardinals were shut out for the first time this season but in their 16 games they have scored three runs or less 10 times … Matthew Liberatore was not able to pitch in any of the three games in Arizona because he was dealing with the flu … The Double A Springfield Cardinals moved to 9-0 to begin the season on Sunday, getting five runs in the eighth inning for an 8-7 win over Wichita. It’s the longest winning streak in the franchise’s 20-year history.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals play what will likely be their final series in Oakland beginning Monday night. Sonny Gray will make his second start in the first of the three games. The A’s have announced plans to move to Sacramento beginning next year before moving to Las Vegas.
