Pirates at Cardinals
Miles Mikolas was forced to head to Japan to resume his professional career, a move that has led him to becoming one of the more improbable success stories of the season. Mikolas has yet to taste defeat in 10 starts in 2018 and seeks his seventh win when the St. Louis Cardinals continue their four-game series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
Mikolas will be facing the Pirates for the third time in five weeks, coming away with a no-decision in each of the first two - including six innings of four-run ball at Pittsburgh on Sunday. St. Louis won the series opener in dramatic fashion, blowing an early four-run lead before rallying for five in the ninth capped off by Yairo Munoz's walk-off, three-run homer. Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, in his second game back after sitting out three, belted a three-run homer Thursday and also is 3-for-6 against Mikolas. Gregory Polanco had a pair of RBI doubles among three hits for Pittsburgh, which closed out the month by losing 10 of 13.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (2-4, 4.53 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (6-0, 2.58)
Taillon's winless drought reached nine starts despite a solid outing versus St. Louis on Sunday, when he permitted three runs on five hits and left with the lead after 6 1/3 innings. He was hammered for six runs and eight hits over six innings in his previous turn and is 0-4 since tossing a one-hit shutout on April 8. Matt Carpenter is 7-for-16 with a homer off Taillon, who is 1-1 with a 4.45 ERA versus St. Louis.
Prior to struggling against the Pirates last time out, Mikolas had allowed two runs or fewer in seven straight starts, including seven innings of two-run ball at Pittsburgh on April. 27. The 29-year-old picked up his first shutout in the majors on May 21, blanking Kansas City on four hits while registering a career-high nine strikeouts. Mikolas has limited right-handed batters to a collective .177 batting average.
WALK-OFFS
1. Munoz doubled his season total with five RBIs Thursday to extend his hitting streak to six games.
2. Cervelli's eighth homer topped his career high of seven set in 2015 with the Pirates.
3. Carpenter and Cardinals OF Harrison Bader have hit safely in seven and six games, respectively.