ST. LOUIS — With his nose for RBIs and eyes set on a stronger season, Nolan Arenado did what the Pittsburgh Pirates time and time again could not Saturday, even when the Cardinals offered the chance.
Building upon the home run in his final at-bat on opening day, Arenado hit three doubles and was perfect with runners in scoring position to propel the Cardinals to a 6-2 victory against the Bucs at Busch Stadium. Arenado went four-for-four in the game and three-for-three with runners in scoring position, seizing on opportunities for the Cardinals that the Pirates missed against the Cardinals.
The Pirates had four baserunners in the first inning and eight before Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas had his eighth out. Yet, like a 101-loss team, they managed to squeeze only two runs.
They were two-for-nine with runners in scoring position.
Arenado doubled home the Cardinals’ first run in the first inning to tie the game, 1-1. He singled home a run in the third to tie the game, 2-2. By the time he looped a double down the right-field line for a third RBI, the Cardinals had widened their lead. Paul DeJong broke the 2-2 with a two-run homer, his first home run of the season.
The bullpen handled the outs from there before Giovanny Gallegos pitched a scoreless ninth. Kodi Whitley got the win in relief of Mikolas for the first of his big-league career.
With his 105 RBIs in 2021, Arenado became the first Cardinals batter in almost a decade to surpass 100. He did so despite a .255 average that frustrated him because with runners in scoring position he hit .329 with a .571 slugging percentage and a .984 OPS. He was hit best when there was a chance to drive home a run. Going into Sunday’s game, he’ll have five RBIs so far this season and five hits, including four for extra bases, in his past five at-bats.
He became the first Cardinals third baseman with three doubles in a game since Scott Rolen had three on Aug. 30, 2006. With four extra-base hits in the first two games of a season for the Cardinals, Arenado matched the feat done only by Jim Edmonds (2001), Dick Allen (1970), Bill Sarni (1956), and Frankie Frisch (1928) in the past century.
A better team would have done more with the invitation Mikolas presented the Pirates in the first inning.
It took the Cardinals’ right-hander 41 pitches to negotiate three outs from the Pirates, and of those 41 pitches only one got a swing and miss. Pittsburgh had the bases loaded with three singles before Mikolas got an out, and the one out he did get was a sacrifice fly to fall behind 1-0. And, yet, Pittsburgh turned that bounty of pitches and hits and baserunners into a measly one run. All of that work from Mikolas and instead of a hearty lead or a crooked number, the Pirates had a 1-0 lead that was vaporized by the beginning of the next inning. Mikolas was the third Cardinals pitcher since 2000 to have an inning of at least 40 pitches and no more than one run allowed.
The right-hander regained traction in the game with a 12-pitch scoreless second, but the Pirates resurfaced for a run in the third inning.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, back from the muscle cramp that forced him from opening day in the second inning, doubled in the third for his second hit of the game. He scored on Yoshi Tsutsugo’s single to left field. The Pirates’ first baseman had the team’s first two RBIs and each one gave Pittsburgh a fleeting lead.
Mikolas pitched into the fourth inning, but not through it. He got a generous called strike three for the second out of the inning and with that was removed from the game after getting 11 outs on 67 pitches. The bullpen collected the other 16.
Making the pitching changes during the game was bench coach Skip Schumaker. Manager Oliver Marmol was diagnosed with the flu Saturday morning and the Cardinals suggested he not be in the dugout during the game. Marmol was tested for COVID-19 and that test came back negative. Schumaker, the Cardinals’ former leadoff hitter and World Series champ who returned to the team as coach this season, served as acting manager.
His first call came in the first inning as Mikolas meandered past 30 pitches and right-hander Jake Woodford began warming in the bullpen if needed.
Whitley eventually got the assignment to complete an inning left by Mikolas without allowing an inherited baserunner to score. Whitley pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and that bridged the game to right-hander Nick Wittgren and lefty T. J. McFarland for middle relief. Ryan Helsley struck out three of the four batters he faced in a setup role for Gallegos.
Cardinals relievers stranded all three of their inherited runners.
