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The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a dominant win on Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. The two teams are in the middle of a four-game series, and the Cardinals have won both so far. Mike Mikolas got the start on the mound for St. Louis, and he brought his A-game. Mikolas lasted 5.1 innings, and he gave up no runs while striking out four and walking none. The Cardinals went on to win 6-0.
Early season MLB games can be tough in the northern states as it still gets pretty cold in April. That wasn't the case on Wednesday, and Miles Mikolas thinks that the warm weather helps him.
“I’m happy with the way the season started, except for the Boston [outing],” Mikolas said, according to an article from MLB.com. “I’m happy with how my fastball command has been, and maybe it had a little more life to it with the warm weather hitting. Atlanta and today were the only games where I’ve had to work up a sweat, because it’s been so chilly early in the season. I think that’s big, and being from Florida, I favor the warm weather and humidity a little bit.”
Pitching in the cold can be difficult, but shortstop Masyn Winn thinks that pitchers have the advantage in the cold. He hit two home runs on Wedneday, and he certainly prefers going to the plate in the warmer weather.
“You know, early in the year, when it’s cold out, I think pitchers have the advantage, because it just sucks hitting when it’s cold,” Winn said. “But we’ve got to go out there and fight. But yeah, with warm weather, I feel like I thrive in that a lot more.”
Winn wasn't the only one who went deep for the Cardinals in Game 1 of Wednesday's double-header. In fact, every run scored by the Cardinals was courtesy of the long ball. It was a 1-0 game going into the ninth, but then Victor Scott II, Lars Nootbarr and Winn hit back-to-back-to-back shots to run away with it.
“Just knowing that the game could potentially be won and that was a big swing,” Victor Scott II said. “Then it was just exciting seeing all the guys come back in [to the dugout] after their home runs.”
The bats came alive in the ninth, but Mikolas' outing on the mound is a big reason why the Cardinals had a lead before the barrage of homers. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has liked what he has seen from Mikolas so far this year.
“That Boston outing kind of snowballed on him, but outside of that, he’s done a really nice job,” Oliver Marmol said. “He’s continuing to mix well with some early contact and some weak contact, but he’s been really good. He’s pitching to chase locations, and he got a couple of strikeouts today up top. So, it’s all looking positive for him.”
The Cardinals recently switched to a six-man pitching rotation, and that has been helpful for Mikolas in a lot of ways.
“Just being able to go with a little higher effort and not having to worry about throwing too many pitches and being tired or overworking myself when I’m searching for something has been big,” Mikolas said. “Sometimes, on the five-day [rotation], I have to cut that bullpen short. Having that extra day gives you extra time to fine-tune some things.”
St. Louis took Game 1 on Wednesday, but the two teams are currently battling it out again as the first game of this series ended up getting postponed. Things are looking good for the Cardinals as they currently lead 9-0 in the third inning.
