51黑料

After what he called a 鈥渂orderline鈥� slider he placed low-and-inside to CJ Abrams was called for a ball to open the game, Mikolas followed with a fastball that he looked to throw in on the left-handed hitting shortstop. Instead, Mikolas' fastball 鈥渓eaked back over the plate鈥� and was lifted to right-center field for a leadoff ground-rule double.

In the at-bats that followed, Mikolas鈥� ability to mix fastballs and curveballs away from first-time All-Star James Wood resulted in a strikeout. A curveball that broke in on Luis Garcia Jr. led to a pop out to shortstop. Three pitches located away from Josh Bell got a ground out to end the first inning, which set the tone for a scoreless start that marked bounce back showing and aided the Cardinals to an 8-1, series-securing win over the Nationals.

鈥淲orking those pitches away, I feel like I found a little bit better rhythm and upbeat with my delivery right there. That was big for me,鈥� Mikolas said.

Roughed up to the tune of eight runs and six home runs during a July 4 start at Wrigley Field vs. the Cubs, Mikolas turned in 5 2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday against Washington. Including the double by Abrams, Mikolas limited opposing hitters to two hits and one walk. He collected six strikeouts and induced 10 groundouts.

Mikolas (5-6) retired 13 consecutive batters after Abrams doubled, holding tight to the 2-0 lead he was provided on RBIs from Alec Burleson that scored Brendan Donovan in the first and third innings. A single to right field with one out in the fifth inning from Mikolas鈥� former Cardinals teammate Paul DeJong represented the second and only other hit a Nationals batter got against Mikolas before he was lifted from his start after throwing 71 pitches聽鈥� 50 of which were strikes.

鈥淗e (Mikolas) had everything working,鈥� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淗e stayed out of the middle. ... I thought he mixed well enough to keep them off balance. We needed it. We talked enough about it, and we needed him to have a bounce back type of an outing, and that's exactly what he did.鈥�

The lone walk Mikolas issued came against Wood with two outs in the sixth inning. The encounter with the All-Star and No. 2 hitter marked the last batter the righty faced as the rest of the Nationals鈥� lefty-loaded lineup was set to face him for a third time.

Called from the bullpen to relieve Mikolas, left-hander Steven Matz ended the sixth inning on two pitches to preserve the two-run lead the Cardinals held onto.

A five-run bottom half of the sixth that included five hits and runs produced on outs gave the lefty and the Cardinals extra room to operate.

The Cardinals (50-44) collected four hits and a walk against Nationals reliver Mason Thompson. They chased the righty out of the game after he got just one out in his appearance. Two hits against reliever Jackson Rutledge that included a home run from Willson Contreras in the seventh inning helped push the Cardinals' run total to eight, their win total to 50 on the season ahead of next week's All-Star break and earned them their first series victory since the final weekend of June.

鈥淚t's really important,鈥� Contreras said of the offense鈥檚 ability to widen their lead late. 鈥淚 think every game is important, especially the way we've been playing lately. Today, we showed up and play with intent and intense. That's one thing that we talk about, and we need to keep it up.鈥�

Before taking the mound on Thursday, Mikolas had allowed 14 runs over 10 innings in his two outings prior. The scuffling starts ballooned his ERA to 5.26.

A pair of 鈥渓ight鈥� bullpen sessions thanks to a scheduled off day on Monday after their road trip to Wrigley allowed Mikolas to work through the adjustments that hurt him in Chicago, where it seemed as if Cubs hitters had a clue on what was coming.

鈥淚t felt pretty good,鈥� Mikolas said of his Thursday start. 鈥淟ike I said, after last game, after that third inning, I kind of figured out what I was doing wrong. I fixed it. I went from there and just went out (and) pitched my game. Same thing today. We had some good defense. The bats came alive there later in the game. Just good overall team win. It felt good for everybody.鈥�

The winning decision in the start marked Mikolas' first win since May 23. At that point in the season, Mikolas鈥� ERA sat at 3.51 through eight starts. In the nine starts that followed, the veteran right posted a 7.75 ERA and allowed 53 hits in 36 innings.

What he did on Thursday allowed the 36-year-old starter take a step forward in course correcting.

鈥淚t's easy to be reactive to his last couple of outings,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淏ut when you look... he had a stretch there were a lot of the conversation was around him having such a long stretch where he was staying out of the middle of plate, getting a lot of soft contact and giving us some pretty good starts. Today resembled a little bit more of that, especially against this many lefties.

"He did his job. He did a really nice job.鈥�