Nolan Arenado hit a home run, and Alec Burleson added a double to help Miles Mikolas, who pitched well, as the St. Louis Cardinals won 4-2 against the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Burleson’s hit made it 3-0 in the fifth inning, and Arenado scored another run in the sixth after the Astros got close with one run in the bottom of the fifth.
Mikolas allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. Ryan Helsley made a perfect ninth inning for his 20th save. Manager Oliver Marmol took out Mikolas after only 62 pitches.
“We have three really good guys on the back end,” Marmol said. “He’s going right through the lane. At that point, it’s not about pitch count. It’s more about knowing the hitters.” Marmol was impressed with Mikolas’ recent improvements.
“He’s been commanding the baseball really well,” Marmol said. “He’s been at the bottom a lot more. His mix has been good. He’s made some small adjustments. For the most part, he’s just in control of every at-bat. There’s a purpose behind what he’s throwing, and it looks really good.”
Yainer Diaz hit a home run for the third straight game, and Trey Cabbage hit his first home run of the season, but the Astros couldn’t finish the series sweep on a day when key hitters Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman were out with injuries.
Tucker missed his second game after hitting a ball off his shin Monday night, and Bregman was scratched late with a sore left hand after being hit by a pitch Tuesday night. Bregman said after the game that he was feeling better and expected to play Friday.
Manager Joe Espada talked about missing two key players Wednesday.
“It’s not ideal… those are two very important pieces of our ballclub,” he said. “But we’ve got to find ways to grind through stretches like this.”
Brandon Crawford got the Cardinals started when he doubled to start the third and moved to third on a groundout by Pedro Pagés. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead when Crawford scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Siani.
Pagés walked with one out in the fifth and advanced to second on a groundout by Siani. An RBI single by Brendan Donovan made it 2-0. Burleson then hit a double to the corner of right field to score Donovan and make it 3-0.
