After balk, Mikolas, Cards drop finale of important divisional set 

CHICAGO -- More so than being upset about a balk that cost him a run and derailed his outing on Sunday night against the rival Cubs, Miles Mikolas was most irate by the fact that he failed to take advantage of a stretch-run opportunity that the Cardinals can hardly afford to squander now.

The Cardinals not only limped out of Wrigley Field for the final time in the 2024 regular season with a 6-2 loss, but also with the realization that they are down to the final 50 games to try and fend off the Pirates, Cubs and Reds and run down the Brewers, who remain up 5 1/2 games in the NL Central.

That reality frustrated Mikolas, who let a 2-0 lead get away when he surrendered two runs in the fourth inning, and he was charged with two more runs in a game-breaking fifth inning. The Cardinals are three games back in the chase for a Wild Card spot, and Mikolas is well aware that his squad is about to start a stretch of 28 of its next 31 games against teams with winning records. In fact, the Cardinals have the sixth-hardest strength of schedule the rest of the way (.507) behind the Rays (.519), Rockies (.515), Guardians (.513), Red Sox (.513) and Royals (.509), according to FanGraphs.

“You know, if we’re going to get there [to the playoffs], we’re going to have to beat those teams and we’ve got to beat them now,” said Mikolas, after the Cardinals dropped three of four to the Cubs and six of their past 10. “We’ve got to show other teams and show ourselves that we’re a playoff team. We’ve got to come out and really give these teams a run for their money.”

The Cardinals weren’t able to give the Cubs much resistance in the series because of the lack of production from the middle of their order. Paul Goldschmidt had a double and a homer in the first game of the series on Thursday, but he didn’t have a hit in the final three games of the set. Nolan Areando, who has seen his power numbers plunge this season, had one extra-base hit in the series. Meanwhile, catcher Willson Contreras was 2-for-15 with two singles in the four-game series.

“We faced four [Cubs starters] who have under a 4.00 ERA … and [Chicago’s Justin] Steele has done an incredible job,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You go down that list, and they have some pretty good arms. That first game came down to the last inning, and they were able to string together some at-bats versus our closer. But, today, we just didn’t string together many quality at-bats against their lefty.”

Mikolas did a good job of taming the Cubs over the game’s first three innings. It was an encouraging start for Mikolas, who entered the night 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA in his previous five starts against the Cubs dating back to July of 2023. The Cubs had roughed him up on July 14 in St. Louis, reaching him for six runs, including four homers, on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings of work.

“You get familiar with hitters, and hitters get familiar with you, so it’s just more of a cat-and-mouse game,” Mikolas said. “The more times a guy sees your stuff, the better he is at hitting it, so you have to move the ball around. I just didn’t have good command today, and that didn’t help a lot.”

In possession of a 2-0 lead thanks to Masyn Winn’s seventh home run off a left-handed pitcher this season, Mikolas started the fourth inning with a strikeout of Cody Bellinger. However, things started to unravel when Isaac Paredes drilled a line-drive single and Mike Tauchman cued a double between Nolan Arenado and the third-base bag that left the bat at 56.3 mph.

Following an RBI groundout by Dansby Swanson, Mikolas was hit with a balk call. Mikolas stepped off the rubber with his right foot, but it was movement with his left leg that led to the balk call, one that clearly agitated Mikolas even after the inning had ended.

Mikolas’ frustration carried over to the fifth when the first four batters reached against him. Ultimately, the game devolved into a missed opportunity to pick up ground in the playoff race, Mikolas said.

“If we’re going to turn it on, we’ve got to turn it on now,” Mikolas said. “I know we’ve got a good stretch coming up against winning ball clubs -- teams that if we make the playoffs we’re probably going to see like the Dodgers and Padres -- so now is the time to really turn it on.”