ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals were hospitable hosts to old friend Skip Schumaker, but they weren’t exactly accommodating. Instead, they dealt him and his Miami Marlins a series-opening loss.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals won their third game in a row and the fifth in their last six games as they beat the Marlins 6-4 in the first contest of a three-game set in front of an announced 35,619 at Busch Stadium on Monday night.
The Cardinals (41-53) moved into a tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates for fourth place in the National League’s Central Division.
Schumaker, a former fifth-round draft pick of the Cardinals who spent parts of eight seasons with the major-league club (2005-2012), served as bench coach for Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol last season. The Marlins hired him as their manager this past offseason.
Cardinals All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado went two for three with a double, a sacrifice fly and four RBIs. Paul Goldschmidt (two for five, two runs scored), Dylan Carlson (two for four, walk, three runs scored) and Jordan Walker (two for four, double, RBI) also had multi-hit games.
The Cardinals used a three-run sixth inning to take control of the game for good. Nolan Gorman smacked a pinch-hit double and scored on a Carlson single. Arenado roped a two-run double to center field.
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (6-5) allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings, and closer Jordan Hicks earned his eighth save.
Mikolas' quick turnaround
Mikolas made the start after he threw just 34 pitches on Friday night before rain and thunderstorms forced the suspension of the series opener against Washington. Mikolas hadn’t allowed a baserunner through three innings when umpires halted that game.
Because of the truncated outing on Friday, Mikolas was able to come back and start on Monday without the typical four days between starts. The Cardinals had planned on using a combination of relief pitchers in a “bullpen day” to cover Monday’s outing on the mound as opposed to a traditional starter.
Mikolas made his team-high 21st start of the season.
Before his rain-shortened start against the Nationals, MIkolas tossed seven scoreless innings Chicago against the White Sox in his final outing before the All-Star break.
Early on, Mikolas showed no ill effects from the quick turnaround. He allowed just one run through his first four innings, and that came on a homer by left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Mikolas left a 3-1 slider over the center of the plate.
The Marlins pushed a run across in the fifth with three consecutive two-out singles, including an infield one by Dane Myers. MLB batting leader Luis Arraez hit an RBI single to drive in the run. He went one for five and now is hitting .378.
In the sixth inning, Mikolas gave up his second solo homer of the game when Jesus Sanchez bashed a 2-0 sinker that stayed up and over the middle of the plate. That tied the score 3-3 after the Cardinals grabbed a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Cardinals get to Luzardo
Cardinals hitters faced Marlins left-hander Jesus Luzardo for the second time in less than three weeks, and they did a better job of figuring out the southpaw.
On July 4 in Miami, Luzardo held the Cardinals to five hits and two walks in six innings. The Cardinals didn’t score against Luzardo in six innings, and they went on to lose that game.
Monday night, the Cardinals stopped their scoreless streak against Luzardo with a run in the third inning.
Carlson’s one-out double to left field put a runner in scoring position for the second time in the game — they stranded two men on with two outs in the second inning — and Nolan Arenado delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle to tie the score 1-1.
In the fifth inning, the Cardinals put two men on with no outs against Luzardo and chased him from the game.
Carlson walked and Goldschmidt singled to put runners on the corners. That’s when Schumaker replaced Luzardo with right-hander TJ Chargois. Arenado lofted a sacrifice fly to center field that tied the game and scored the second run charged to Luzardo.
With two outs, Chargois uncorked a wildly errant pick-off throw attempt to first base. The off-target throw allowed Goldschmidt to advance to second base. Walker’s RBI single drove in Goldschmidt and gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
Herrera starts again
Rookie catcher Ivan Herrera stared for the fourth time since he was promoted to the majors on July 5 and for the second time in the past three games.
Monday night, Herrera stared at catcher while Willson Contreras served as the designated hitter.
“I think if he’s here, he needs to be able to get appropriate at-bats,” Marmol said prior to the game. “I[m not going to put a three out of seven game type thing. But if he’s going to be here, in order to continue the progress that we’ve made, he needs to play enough.”
In his three previous games this season, Herrera went six for 12 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. He turned in a three-hit game on Saturday against the Washington. But Monday he was 0 for four, with a strikeout.
After being overwhelmed by a lot of the pregame preparation when he made the initial jump to the majors last year, Herrera has impressed the Cardinals with the way he has handled a lot of the behind-the-scenes work this time around.
“He played himself into being able to stay a little longer, that’s basically it,” Marmol said. “The kid has done really well. He’s quiet behind the plate. He’s received well. He’s blocked well. He’s handled our staff well. And he’s hit.”
Tepera makes Cards debut
Relief pitcher Ryan Tepera made his debut just hours after the club announced he’d been signed and added to the major-league roster.
He entered the game at the start of the seventh inning and gave up one run in two-thirds of an inning. Along with recording two outs, he allowed two singles, hit a batter and walked a batter.
Giovanny Gallegos entered the game and got the final out of the seventh inning to strand the bases loaded.
The Los Angeles Angels released the right-hander on May 19. A former draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, Tepera made his debut for the Blue Jays in 2015. He also has pitched for the Chicago Cubs (2020-21), Chicago White Sox (2021) and the Angels (2022-23).
