Miles Mikolas and three relievers combined on a three-hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Thursday afternoon.
Mikolas allowed two hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Andrew Kittredge (2-4), JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley pitched an inning each to complete the shutout. Helsley earned his 39th save.
Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single and extended his on-base streak to 21 games as the Cardinals won two of three in the series. Victor Scott II went 3-for-4 and scored a run, and Alec Burleson went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run.
Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta held the Cardinals scoreless for five innings on three hits and two walks. He struck out two.
Reliever Nick Mears (1-5) took the loss.
Mikolas worked out of trouble in the first inning. Jackson Chourio hit a one-out double and moved to third on William Contreras’ single. But Mikolas struck out Garrett Mitchell and retired Willy Adames on a groundout.
Milwaukee dodged trouble in the third inning after Scott hit a one-out double. Peralta walked Burleson with two outs and hit Willson Contreras with a pitch, but Brendan Donovan flied out to end the inning.
Lars Nootbaar appeared to hit a solo homer in the fourth inning for St. Louis, but Mitchell leaped and reached over the wall in right-center to deny him.
The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning against Mears and Bryse Wilson. Singles by Scott, Masyn Winn and Burleson loaded the bases, then Mears walked Willson Contreras to force in a run.
Donovan hit into fielder’s choice, scoring Winn, then Arenado greeted Wilson with an RBI single. Nootbaar walked, but Wilson ended the rally by getting Luken Baker to pop out.
Winn reached on a sun-aided single with two outs in the eighth inning and went to third on Burleson’s single. But Willson Contreras flied out to strand them.
–Field Level Media