Tuesday’s Game Report: Twins 3, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
Miles Mikolas stuck around a lot longer than he did in his previous start, but the result was still another loss for the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Mikolas, who was ejected from his July 27 start against the Cubs for hitting Ian Happ with a pitch after throwing only 14 pitches, pitched through the seventh inning but didn’t get much support from his offense in the loss to the Twins.
The Twins broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run single by former Cardinals minor-leaguer Donovan Solano off Mikolas in the seventh.
The loss was the fourth in their last five games for the Cardinals, who are 47-61 after 108 games, the two-thirds point in the season. They are 9-22 in one-run games.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were limited to just six hits, all singles, through the first eight innings, scoring their only run on a two-out hit by Nolan Arenado in the sixth … Tyler O’Neill homered with one out in the ninth, only his third of the season and first since April 12 … Lars Nootbaar and Taylor Motter each had two hits.
On the mound: Mikolas allowed six hits, walked one and struck out seven over his seven innings. He allowed an unearned run in the fifth because of an error by Tommy Edman, and then gave up the two-run single to Solano in the seventh … John King, one of the players obtained from Texas in Sunday’s trade, pitched the eighth inning, allowing a two-out double, before Drew VerHagen worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
Key stat: In their last 14 games dating back to July 18, the Cardinals have only two wins from their starting pitcher – both by Steven Matz.
Worth noting: Brendan Donovan will undergo season-ending surgery on his right arm on Wednesday in Dallas. Donovan had been limited to DH duties for more than a month because of the injury to his arm, and with the trading deadline over, he and the team decided to have the surgery now instead of waiting. “It wasn’t getting better,” said manager Oli Marmol. “The throwing program didn’t go well. It made the most sense to get it done now.” The surgery will be a ligament repair in his ellow, but will not be Tommy John surgery. The hope is that he will be ready to play by the start of spring training … Jose Fermin was promoted from Memphis to fill Donovan’s roster spot, one of several moves the team made following the trade deadline. Pitchers Zack Thompson, Andrew Suarez and James Naile were recalled from Memphis and Edman was activated from the injured list … Nolan Gorman got another day off because of back tightness as a precautionary move but he is expected to play on Wednesday.
Looking ahead: Jack Flaherty had been the scheduled starter for Wednesday night’s game but that assignment will now go to Dakota Hudson.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
