St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas was one strike away from throwing a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, but Cal Mitchell ended the bid for history with a clean double over the head of center fielder Harrison Bader.
Here's a look:
The Cardinals won the game 9-1 and in doing so swept the doubleheader.
Had Mikolas been able to record that final out in the ninth, then it would've been the third no-hitter of the 2022 season and the 10th recognized no-hitter in Cardinals franchise history. The last Cardinals no-hitter was Bud Smith's in September of 2001. After surrendering the hit to Mitchell, Mikolas was lifted with a career-high 129 pitches:
His final line for the night:
Mikolas also recorded 14 ground-outs versus five fly-outs. The deep-repertoire 33-year-old thrived by working his fastball inside and dropping his slow curve in for strikes. With the gem, Mikolas lowered his ERA for the season to 2.62 with 66 strikeouts and 16 walks in 82 1/3 innings. Mikolas missed much of the previous two seasons with injuries, but in 2022 he's been a necessary linchpin in the St. Louis rotation.
On the other side of things, Paul Goldschmidt paced the offense as he went 4 for 4 with two home runs and a walk. The Cardinals have now won five of their last six.
Cal Mitchell ends the no-hit bid with a clean double over the head of center fielder Harrison Bader. Mikolas was one strike away from the first Cardinals no-hitter since 2001, but he wasn't able to get the final out.
Line-out to Dylan Carlson for the second out. One out away.
One away, 6-3.
Perez, Marcano, and Mitchell due up for the Pirates in the ninth.
Mikolas is at 115 pitches, which ties a career high, going into the ninth. He's a veteran, yes, but he has also a substantial recent injury history. Manager Oli Marmol didn't have anyone warming up in the bullpen in the eighth.
