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The St. Louis Cardinals watched Miles Mikolas land on the wrong side of franchise history on July 4th at Wrigley Field, as the veteran pitcher endured a brutal outing in an 11-3 blowout loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Mikolas surrendered six home runs in just the first three innings, tying the modern-era MLB record and setting a new Cardinals franchise record for most homers allowed in a single outing. He became the sixth pitcher in the last 85 years to do so, joining Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, James Shields, Michael Blazek, and Matt Swarmer.
The 36-year-old right-hander allowed eight runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and no walks over six innings. His performance marked only the 11th time in MLB history that a pitcher has allowed six home runs in a game, and he is the sixth pitcher in the last 85 years to do so, joining names like Tim Wakefield and Matt Swarmer.
Entering the game, Mikolas had given up just nine home runs over 16 starts. In this single outing, he nearly doubled that number, raising his season ERA from 4.76 to 5.26. Over his last seven starts, he has posted a 0-4 record and a 7.75 ERA, surrendering 12 home runs in that stretch.
The Cubs, meanwhile, made franchise history of their own, launching a record eight home runs, six off Mikolas and two more off reliever John King. Michael Busch led the charge with three home runs, followed by Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two, and one each from Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Carson Kelly. The Cubs became only the fifth team since 1956 to go back-to-back on home runs three times in a single game, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Mikolas’ breakdown came after he had attempted to rally his teammates following a demoralizing three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates in which the Cardinals were shut out in every game. However, his fiery bus speech didn’t translate into results.
“I tried to get everybody fired up the other day on the bus coming back from Pittsburgh, and I should have maybe fired myself up a little more,” Mikolas said after the loss. “It’s really disappointing. Fourth of July, Chicago, and I was really excited for this start, and I really wanted it to go well. And it didn’t. I’ve got to live with that and deal with that.”
The outing also came during a difficult period for the Cardinals, who, despite early-season highlights like Sonny Gray’s one-hitter on June 27 and Erick Fedde’s shutout on May 9, have been plagued by inconsistency.
Miles Mikolas now carries a 4-6 record, a 5.26 ERA, and a 1.34 WHIP over 87.1 innings, with 60 strikeouts to 20 walks.
