ST. LOUIS -- Miles Mikolas pitched out of jams, got big outs, tossed six innings and most importantly gave his team a chance -- and a really good chance at that -- to win.
Oh yeah, and he, um, grabbed some attention on Twitter as well during a fifth-inning exchange with Juan Soto.
That the Cardinals came out on the losing end of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series presented by GEICO by a 2-0 margin on Friday night was much more a reflection of the offense than it was about the pitcher, who is starting to fulfill the promise the team saw when it signed him to a long-term contract and started him on Opening Day.
Mikolas allowed seven hits but managed to pitch around that traffic, allowing just one run.
¡°He threw well,¡± Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we wasted a start like that, because obviously he was in command and he made the one mistake to [Yan] Gomes early and then really settled and pitched out of a few tough jams. You hate to not be able to scratch runs when you get a start like that, but that¡¯s the way it goes. You¡¯ve got to be ready to go tomorrow.¡±
The lone damage the Nationals managed against the 31-year-old came in the second when Howie Kendrick, the hero of Washington¡¯s dramatic Game 5 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday, led off with a double.
Two outs later, Gomes smacked a 1-0 slider into the gap in left-center for a double, scoring Kendrick.
¡°Miles was great,¡± Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. ¡°Gomes made him pay for a ball up. But outside of that, he was tremendous. Scattered a few hits, but that¡¯s what he did -- scattered hits.¡±
The biggest out of the game for Mikolas came in the fifth. It also drew the most attention on social media.
Mikolas found himself in quite a jam that inning with two outs, the bases loaded and the ever-dangerous Soto at the plate. Soto took a couple of curves for balls, but Mikolas threw a nifty one for strike one and then figured he would come back with yet another on the fourth pitch.
¡°If it ain¡¯t broke, don¡¯t fix it,¡± said Mikolas.
Soto rolled over the pitch and grounded out to second to end the frame. That¡¯s when the fun started.
Soto has drawn attention from some opposing teams this year, the Cardinals included, for his actions between pitches, including sometimes grabbing himself -- and he made that gesture during his fifth inning at-bat.
So, as Mikolas walked back to the dugout he turned towards Soto, who was taking off his helmet at first, and returned the gesture.
¡°He has a routine where he shuffles around the box, and adjusts his cup and whatnot, but I was just having fun out there,¡± Mikolas said. ¡°Kind of giving it back to him in a good-natured, ribbing kind of way. No intent to be mean or trying to start anything, just having fun out of there.¡±
Soto, who saw the gesture, did not appear to take any offense.
¡°For me, that's good,¡± Soto said. ¡°If he reacts, I don't mind. He got me out. He can do whatever he wants. I¡¯m going to laugh at it. We¡¯re going to keep going and face him again.¡±
Given the way he¡¯s pitched of late, Mikolas is having plenty of fun after an uneven regular season.
Signed to a four-year, $68 million extension during Spring Training, Mikolas pitched the Cardinals to a win in a crucial game against the Cubs down the stretch and also got the ball in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, where he allowed one run over five innings in the Cardinals¡¯ win.
¡°I feel pretty good,¡± Mikolas said. ¡°I ironed some stuff out mechanically in the last half of the season, last couple of weeks. And getting into October, it¡¯s time to kick into another gear. If I had a rough regular season, trying to make up for it in the postseason.¡±