Mikolas leads Cardinals over Mets with arm, bat
Miles Mikolas allowed two runs in eight innings and drove in two runs with a second-inning single to help the St. Louis Cardinals to a 10-2 win against the visiting New York Mets on Saturday afternoon.
Mikolas (2-1) allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two on 100 pitches. He went 18-4 last season to lead the National League in wins.
Jose Martinez had three hits and three RBIs, Yadier Molina had two hits and two RBIs, and Paul DeJong had two hits and two runs for the Cardinals in the second game of the three-game series.
Paul Goldschmidt homered in the eighth for St. Louis to take a 10-2 lead.
Mets right-hander Chris Flexen (0-1) was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to start in place of Jacob deGrom, who was placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday with elbow discomfort.
Flexen had an easy first inning, but he gave up back-to-back one-out singles to Martinez and Molina in the second. After both runners moved up on a ground out, Kolten Wong was intentionally walked to load the bases for Mikolas.
After a passed ball scored the first run, Mikolas grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score two more for a 3-0 lead.
The Cardinals added two runs in the third after DeJong led off with a double to left, Marcell Ozuna walked and Martinez singled to right to drive in DeJong. Molina followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Molina's RBI single in the fifth ended Flexen's day after 4 1/3 innings. He allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits, walked four and did not record a strikeout.
The Cardinals added three runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by DeJong and a two-double run by Martinez to make it 9-0.
Mikolas didn't allow a base hit until Robinson Cano led off the fourth with a single to center.
The Mets got on the scoreboard in the seventh when Jeff McNeil reached on an infield single and scored on a triple by Amed Rosario. J.D. Davis then brought home Rosario with a grounder to short to make it 9-2.
--Field Level Media
