Wednesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Astros 2
By Rob Rains
It’s a plan that has worked out well for the Cardinals so far this season, although there have been a few hiccups in some recent games.
It worked again on Wednesday, helping the Cardinals salvage the final game of their series in Houston.
Miles Mikolas got the Cardinals through six innings with a lead, and despite throwing only 62 pitches, he was pulled so the Cardinals could roll out their big three relievers, JoJo Romero, Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley, to cover the final three innings.
Only one Astro reached base over those three innings, on a walk from Kittredge.
The win allowed the Cardinals to finish their longest road trip of the season with a 4-5 record.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Brandon Crawford doubled in the third inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Siano to open the scoring for the Cardinals … In the fifth, Brendan Donovan singled in one run and he scored on a double by Alec Burleson … Nolan Arenado provided the final run in the sixth with his sixth homer of the season … Arenado had been 5-of-29 up to that point on the road trip … The Cardinals produced their four runs on only five hits and were 1-of-4 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound: Mikolas only allowed five hits, two of which were back-to-back homers by Yainer Diaz and Trey Cabbage in the fifth. He did not walk a batter and recorded three strikeouts … Romero retired the Astros in order in the seventh, Kittredge pitched around a walk in the eighth and Helsley worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to eanr his league-leading 20th save.
Key stat: The Cardinals finished the road trip going 9-of-55 with runner in scoring position, a .164 average. They hit 16 home runs on the trip, 11 of which came with nobody on base, and the other five with one runner on base.
Worth noting: Masyn Winn got the day off as part of the Cardinals monitoring of his playing time while he works through a sore back … Nolan Gorman was hitless in four at-bats as his three-game streak with at least one homr run came to an end.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals return home on Thursday night to open a four-game series against the Rockies. The Pirates will follow Colorado to town.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
