Friday’s Game Report: Cubs 12, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
The good news for Miles Mikolas on Friday was that he only allowed four hits over his five innings of work against the Cubs. The bad news is that three of them were home runs.
Nico Hoerner hit the first homer in the first, Pete-Crow Armstrong added a two-run shot in the fourth and Michael Busch hit one into the Wrigley Field bleachers in the fifth and the Cubs went on to rout the Cardinals.
A seven-run seventh inning included a grand slam by Seiya Suzuki off Chris Roycroft blew the game open and sent the Cardinals to their 82nd loss of the year, guaranteeing they will finish with a losing record for the second time in the last three years.
In his last two starts at Wrigley, Mikolas has allowed a combined nine homers in just 11 innings. It’s likely this was the final start of his career for the Cardinals as he is set to become a free agent this winter.
Here is how Friday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The only run for the Cardinals came in the seventh. Nolan Gorman led off the inning with a double, went to third on a single by Thomas Saggese and scored on a single by Jordan Walker … Starter Colin Rea retired 17 of the first 18 hitters he faced before walking Lars Nootbaar with two outs in the sixth. An infield single by Ivan Herrera and a walk to Alec Burleson loaded the bases but Nolan Arenado struck out to end the inning … The Cardinals struck out 14 times in the game, their most in a game in Chicago since Sept. 4, 2020.
On the mound: Hoerner’s home run was the 11th allowed by Mikolas in the first inning this year and the three home runs increased his season total to 29, the most he has given up in a season in his career. The only other hit he allowed was a single by Kyle Tucker before Crow-Armstrong’s homer … Gordon Graceffo retired only one of the six batters he faced in the seventh before Roycroft relieved. It took 50 pitches in the inning before the Cardinals recorded the second out of the inning. Five of the seven runs were charged to Graceffo while Roycrof also allowed the final Chicago run in the eighth.
Key stat: The home run by Crow-Armstrong was the fifth of his career off Mikolas in just nine at-bats. It’s the most home runs Mikolas has allowed to any batter in his career. In four career games, Crow-Armstrong is 7-of-9 off Mikolas. In the nine at-bats, he has a home run, home run, double, pop out, home run, home run, single, strikeout and home run.
Worth noting: Masyn Winn underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Thursday in Dallas. The team expects him to be completely recovered before the start of spring training … With the Cardinals eliminated from postseason contention, they are skipping Matthew Liberatore’s last start and will go with a bullpen game on Sunday in the final game of the season. Kyle Leahy is expected to start that game as the team considers trying him as a starter next spring … Brendan Donovan, who has been trying to play through toe and groin injuries, also is not likely to play in the games this weekend.
Up next: Michael McGreevy will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the series.
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