St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas lost a no-hitter with one strike to go during the second game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
With the Cardinals up 9-1 and a 2-2 count on Pirates outfielder Cal Mitchell, Mitchell hit a Mikolas breaking ball for a ground-rule double. The ball barely went past the leaping attempt of Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader and bounced over the wall.
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Mikolas was removed from the game at a career-high 129 pitches. Cardinals reliever Packy Naughton came in for the final out of the game. Mikolas finished the game with six strikeouts and one run allowed in 8.2 innings. The lone unearned run came in the fourth inning, when Pirates DH Daniel Vogelbach drove in outfielder Bryan Reynolds on a groundout. Reynolds led off the inning with a fly ball that was misplayed by Cardinals left fielder Juan Yepez for an error.
After Tuesday’s game, Mikolas’ 2.62 ERA on the season was the 14th-lowest among all MLB pitchers. He’s also pitched the second-most innings (82.1), and has the 12th-lowest WHIP (0.97) in the majors. In 13 games, Mikolas has a 5-4 record with 66 strikeouts and 16 walks.
If Mikolas had gotten that final out, his would’ve been the third no-hitter in MLB this year (and the first for the Cardinals since 2001). Five pitchers for the New York Mets threw a combined no-hitter on April 29 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Reid Detmers threw one for the Los Angeles Angels against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 10.
The Cardinals won earlier Tuesday 3-1 in the first game of their doubleheader with Pittsburgh. Now at 37-27, they’re 2.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
