Wednesday’s Game Report: Marlins 9, Cardinals 0
There’s something about facing a starter making his major-league debut that doesn’t ever seem to work out well for the Cardinals.
It happened again on Wednesday night in Miami as Jordan Yamamoto, recalled from Double A Jacksonville because of an injury, limited the Cardinals to just three hits over seven innings. Yamamoto had won only three of 12 starts in the minors this year before his promotion to the Marlins.
It’s the third time in the last three seasons the Cardinals have been shut out for at least six innings by a pitcher making his major-league debut. They had just one hit in seven innings against the Pirates’ Nick Kingham on April 29 last year and had just two hits and did not score in six innings against Amir Garrett of the Reds on April 7, 2017.
The big hit for the Marlins was a grand slam by Garrett Cooper off Miles Mikolas, who fell to 0-5 in in his last six starts.
The loss dropped the Cardinals back to .500 at 33-33.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were shut out for the fourth time this season and managed only three hits, their fewest against the Marlins since they were limited to two hits on Aug. 10, 2004 … Their only hits were a double by Paul DeJong and singles by Paul Goldschmidt and Kolten Wong.
On the mound: Mikolas allowed eight hits and five runs in five innings. He has not win since May 6 … The Marlins scored one run off Ryan Helsley, who had to leave the game with an apparent injury before scoring their final three runs off John Brebbia.
Key stat: Mikolas has struggled on the road, dropping to 1-4 in seven starts away from Busch Stadium this season. He has allowed 27 earned runs in 31 1/3 innings in those games, an ERA of 7.76.
Worth noting: The Cardinals signed their second-round pick in this year’s draft, high school outfielder Tre Fletcher, on Wednesday. Fletcher bypassed a scholarship to Vanderbilt to sign with the Cardinals …. Also coming to terms with the team were third-round pick Tony Locey, sixth-round pick Pedro Pages, 18th round selection Aaron Antonini, 20th round pick Adrian Mardueno and 28th round pick Tyler Peck … The Cardinals have now signed seven of their top 10 picks.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals road trip continues on Thursday night with the opener of a four-game series against the Mets in New York. Jack Flaherty will get the start against Jacon deGrom.
