CINCINNATI — They’ll miss him when he’s gone.
Paul Goldschmidt, unvaccinated for COVID-19, will miss the Cardinals’ next two games, along with fellow All-Star Nolan Arenado, when the Cardinals go to Toronto.
But Goldschmidt gave them something to remember him by as he homered twice, good for three runs batted in, against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday at Great American Ball Park. Unfortunately, those were the only hits and runs the Cardinals had off right-hander Tyler Mahle for six innings as the Reds downed the Cardinals and Miles Mikolas 6-3.
The Cardinals lost a series finale for the 10th time in their past 13 series and dropped their first series to the lowly Reds in the four series the teams have played this season. Mahle, a potential trade deadline option for the pitching-thin Cardinals, had just come off the injured list where he had resided with right forearm stiffness.
A bleeder, a bloop, a blast for Reds
Mikolas hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his past eight starts. But the Reds nicked him for three singles in the third inning, one an infield hit beaten out by speedy Nick Senzel and a bloop single by Tyler Naquin as second baseman Nolan Gorman missed a diving try.
That latter hit loaded the bases with one out. Tommy Pham, whom Mikolas had fanned in each of three career at-bats, launched a sacrifice fly to right.
Joey Votto had been five for 25 (.200) against Mikolas but found a hanging curve to his liking and bounced a three-run homer off the top of the left-field wall and the Reds had a 4-0 lead.
Goldy’s calling card
Goldschmidt, the league’s leading hitter for average, smacked his 23rd homer and third of the series, drilling a Mahle split-fingered pitch deep into the right-center-field seats at 406 feet.
It was the first hit by the Cardinals and followed a leadoff walk to Tyler O’Neill.
And then Goldschmidt got the Cardinals’ second hit, a solo homer (No, 24) to right center, off Mahle in the sixth. It represented his 22nd multi-homer game of his career. But, still the Cardinals trailed.
Goldschmidt has homered in his past five games (six home runs), including the All-Star Game in Los Angeles after not having homered in 17 prior games.
Mikolas not sharp
It took All-Star Mikolas 81 pitches to navigate five innings, with the Reds scoring twice more in the fourth. A rare leadoff walk by Mikolas to Mike Moustakas cost him. Matt Reynolds then singled to center but the right-hander almost escaped the inning.
Mikolas induced Senzel to pop up and fanned light-hitting Michael Papierski after Papierski had been instructed to bunt on the first two pitches, both of which he fouled off.
But Naquin who has knocked in five runs in the series, singled up the middle to score Moustakas. The Reds then pulled off the first half of a double steal attempt as Naquin broke for second and then stopped as catcher Andrew Knizner’s throw arrived. Naquin was run down for the third out but not before Reynolds had scored.
In his previous 54 2/3 innings, Mikolas had given up only 13 earned runs. After he got to 100 pitches through five innings, Mikolas was given the rest of the afternoon off.
Pujols delivers again but nobody home
Albert Pujols, who had two hits on Saturday, pinch hit a bloop single against left-hander Reiver Sanmartin to give the Cardinals two runners on and one out in the seventh. But the black hole for the Cardinals’ lineup is the No. 9 spot inhabited by the catcher. Knizner rapped into a double play to end the threat as the Cardinals didn’t score.
