Central STL News

CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Cardinals faced a challenging start to their series against the Chicago Cubs on July 4, following a disappointing sweep in Pittsburgh. Miles Mikolas, aiming to inspire his team, delivered an impassioned speech before the game at Wrigley Field. However, his efforts were overshadowed by a dominant performance from the Cubs.

Mikolas expressed regret after becoming the first pitcher in Cardinals' history to allow six home runs in a single game during an 11-3 loss. "I tried to get everybody fired up the other day on the bus coming back from Pittsburgh, and I should have maybe fired myself up a little more," he stated.

The Cardinals allowed eight home runs in total, marking a record for the franchise that dates back to 1882. Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong led the charge for the Cubs with three and two homers respectively.

Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol commented on the defeat: "I mean, we got our ass handed to us and it’s not one specific thing." He did not confirm whether Mikolas would make his next start after recent struggles left him with an ERA of 7.75 over his last seven starts.

Despite Mikolas' difficulties, including allowing twelve home runs in those games, Marmol indicated that decisions regarding future lineups would be made after further evaluation.

Mikolas acknowledged his shortcomings against a strong Cubs team: "They’re first in the division for a reason... We’re a really strong team too, and I let us down today."

The Cubs capitalized early with Seiya Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong hitting consecutive homers in the first inning. The trend continued throughout as Busch and Carson Kelly added more long balls in subsequent innings.

Mikolas reflected on his performance: "You can’t throw pitches down the middle at all... Hopefully we’ll go out there [on Saturday] and give them hell."

The Cardinals aim to recover as they continue their series against Chicago with hopes of turning around their road trip fortunes before returning to St. Louis.