Cardinals bats held silent again in another loss to Marlins

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jul 30, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — Trailing early after a Marlins hitter connected on a two-run homer off a Cardinals starter for a second consecutive night at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals once again could not generate the offense needed to pull themselves out of another early hole against Miami.

After Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas gave up a two-run homer to Jesus Sanchez in the third inning, the Cardinals were shut out for a second consecutive night by the Marlins. A day after former Cardinal Sandy Alcantara delivered five scoreless innings to help the Marlins sink the Cardinals, the Cardinals were held scoreless for six innings by starter Cal Quantrill in a 2-0 loss that dropped them to 55-55 for the season.

The Cardinals had a bases-loaded opportunity with one out in the fifth inning but could not cash in with Brendan Donovan and Ivan Herrera at the plate. Walks by Donovan and Alec Burleson in the eighth inning put the game-tying run on base and brought the go-ahead run to the plate with Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado due up. The late threat ended with back-to-back strikeouts of the Cardinals’ Nos. 4 and 5 hitters.

With the shutout loss, the Cardinals have been held scoreless for 19 consecutive innings. The Cardinals have not scored since Jordan Walker doubled home Masyn Winn with two outs in the seventh inning in a 7-1 win on Monday.

A winner in his last outing, Mikolas notched his fifth quality start of the year and first since June 15 against the Brewers. The six innings Mikolas tossed matched a season high. Mikolas flashed increased average velocity with each of the six pitches he flashed against Miami.

Mikolas’ fastball averaged 94.9 mph, a 2.4-mph increase from his average fastball this season, per Statcast. He relied primarily on his slider, which was thrown 22 times, and his curveball, which he used for 19 of his 86 pitches. The increased zip and breaking pitch-heavy approach helped Mikolas to five strikeouts and six groundouts.

A bullpen that no longer features closer Ryan Helsley after he was traded to the Mets for three prospects before Wednesday’s first pitch at Busch Stadium held the Marlins to one hit and no walks in the final three innings following Mikolas’ exit.

Riley O’Brien, who pitched through some light rainfall, logged 1 1/3 innings while JoJo Romero (1 1/3 innings) and Kyle Leahy (1/3 of an inning) also turned in scoreless appearances.

Coming up empty

When they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth inning, the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters in the Cardinals’ lineup could not produce a ball in play that left the infield.

Donovan, the Cardinals’ primary leadoff hitter, fell into an 0-2 count and worked it to 2-2 by fouling off sinker and taking two splitters that were well out of the strike zone. A take on a third sinker he saw in the at-bat earned him a seventh pitch against Quantrill.

The righty placed a 96.5-mph sinker that appeared to catch the low, outside corner of the strike zone to strike out Donovan looking. The called strike led to some frustration from Donovan.

In the at-bat that followed, Herrera, who owned a .400 batting average in 50 at-bats with runners in scoring position entering Wednesday, took the first three pitches he saw to put him in a 2-1 count. He fouled off the fourth pitch he saw and grounded out to second base on a 96.9-mph sinker Quantrill placed over the middle of the strike zone.

Late threat falls short

After the Cardinals had their bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth inning end without a ball in play leaving the infield, their next best chance to close the two-hole ended without a ball being put in play.

Facing right-hander Ronny Henriquez, Contreras took the first two pitches he saw and fouled off the third to put him in a 1-2 count as Henriquez located sinkers and a sweeper low and in. Henriquez dotted a 97.1-mph fastball on the low, inside corner called for a third strike that Contreras appeared to disagree with.

Like Contreras, Arenado fell into a 1-2 count three pitches into his at-bat against Henriquez before offering at the fourth pitch, a sweeper thrown low and away, and fouling it off.

A third sweeper in the at-bat got Arenado to chase below the strike zone for a strikeout to end the inning.

Hurt by the homer

Having allowed a home run in 11 of his previous 14 starts heading after beginning the year with no homers allowed in his first six to begin the season, a 1-0 change-up Mikolas threw low-and-in to Sanchez represented homer No. 18 Mikolas has surrendered this year.

Facing Sanchez for a second time in three innings after Sanchez hit a one-out double in the first inning, Mikolas saw his off-speed pitch lifted to center field for a 439-foot two-run homer.

The homer was just the first Mikolas allowed on a change-up this year, per Statcast. The veteran right-hander’s change-up had been hit for a .250 batting average and kept opposing hitters to a .333 slugging percentage on the 188 times he threw it entering the night.