Cardinals get 2-1 victory over the Royals
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas pitched eight shutout innings, Nolan Arenado hit an RBI double and Nolan Gorman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night to split the two-game set between the I-70 rivals.
Mikolas (4-1) matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed three hits in working a season-high eight innings. The strikeout total matched the 34-year-old right- hander’s effort against Milwaukee in 2019.
“It’s one of the best feelings in sports, to show up when your team needs you,” Mikolas said. “Every game, there’s someone who you kind of got to lean on. If you get to be that guy,
it makes you feel good.”
“I got a little blister on my finger from a slider I threw there near the end,” Mikolas said. “It’s not going to be a problem, but you don’t want to force those things.”
St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was impressed with Mikolas’ showing.
“We needed him to go. It was a phenominal start,” Marmol said. “We knew we needed this game.”
Gionvanny Gallegos replaced Mikolas in the ninth and gave up a double and single to start the inning. Vinnie Pasquantino scored on a fielder’s choice by Bobby Witt Jr., cutting the deficit to a run. Gallegos went on to retire the next two hitters and record his seventh save.
TOMMY BOY
Tommy Edman made his first career start and third overall appearance in center field in the regular season, previously appearing as a defensive replacement on July 12, 2019 verus Arizona (one inning) and May 21, 2022 at Pittsburgh (five innings). The 28-year-old Edman also appeared in center in Game 4 of the NLCS at Washington (one inning). This season, the former Gold Glove second baseman has appeared at shortstop (27 games), second base (21 games), and right field (seven games).
MAY DAY
With a win, the Cardinals (15-13) achieved a winning month of May for the 16th time since 2000.
“We were in a deep, dark place earlier in the month, a team meeting kind of place,” Mikolas said. “We had to assess things. We’ve definitely turned it around. I think our best ball is still to come.”
UP NEXT
Cardinals: The team has Wednesday and Thursday off before playing Friday at Pittsburgh. No starter has been determined.
