Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas was one strike away from hurling a no-hitter Tuesday night vs. the Pirates.
When Pirates outfielder Cal Mitchell stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, Mikolas already had two outs and just needed to retire Mitchell to finish off a no-hitter. The 33-year-old got Mitchell in a 2–2 count, but Mitchell roped a curveball for a ground-rule double to end the no-hit bid.
The ball went just over center fielder Harrison Bader’s glove and bounced over the fence, leaving Cardinals fans bitterly disappointed at the oh-so-close outcome.
Mikolas finished the game with 129 pitches, with 81 of those being strikes. He racked up six strikeouts and allowed just one walk. Packy Naughton took over on the mound for the last batter and induced a groundout to close out the Cardinals’ 9–1 win (the Pirates scored a run earlier in the game when Bryan Reynolds reached on an error and eventually scored on a groundout).
Despite the disappointing finish, Mikolas overall record moves to 5–4 this season, and his ERA was lowered to 2.62.
