ST. LOUIS — By Rob Rains
Technically and officially, the six games remaining on the Cardinals’ schedule beginning Monday night count as regular-season games. Realistically, however, they are much more than that.
Completing a series sweep of the Giants on Sunday behind another outstanding start from Miles Mikolas, the Cardinals have positioned themselves to enter the final week of the season in full playoff-mode.
They begin the week 1 ½ games ahead of the Rockies for the second wild-card spot and two games behind the Brewers, their opponent the next three nights, for the top wild-card spot. The difference between finishing first or second in that race is the chance to play at home in the wild-card game.
One of the characteristics which manager Mike Shildt likes best about his team is how they have been able to keep their focus on the game they are playing and not look too far down the road. He expect s that to be the case again this week.
“We’re going to show up, take our best shot and continue to play the game and see where we are at the end,” Shildt said.
Mikolas moved into a tie for the most wins in the National League with 17 on Sunday, allowing only one hit and two baserunners through the first six innings.
Mikolas protected a 2-0 lead until the Cardinals blew the game open with five runs in the sixth inning. Matt Carpenter produced the final two runs in the eighth with his first home runs since Aug. 31. It was his 36th of the season and despite failing to homer in 19 consecutive games he maintained his NL lead in that category.
It was the sixth win by the Cardinals in their last seven games and finished off their first three-game sweep of the Giants at home since 1995.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ first four RBIs came out of the bottom three spots in the lineup. Harrison Bader’s squeeze bunt produced one run, Yaieo Munoz had a pair of RBI singles and Mikolas contributed an RBI single … Jose Martinez doubled in two runs in the big sixth inning, his second double of the game … Paul DeJong capped the inning with an RBI single, but struck out in his other four at-bats.
On the mound: Mikolas retired the first 11 hitters he faced before Munoz dropped a popup for an error, his first of two in the game … Nick Hundley’s double leading off the fifth was the only hit he allowed before Brandon Crawford hit a two-run homer in the seventh, following Munoz’s second error … Mikolas struck out eight and did not walk a batter and at 17-4, with one start remaining, is tied with Max Scherzer and Jon Lester for the most wins in the NL. His 17 wins are the most by a pitcher in his first season with the Cardinals since Darryl Kile won 19 in 2000 … John Brebbia allowed a pair of singles in a scoreless eighth inning and Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth in his Cardinals’ debut, striking out two.
Key stat: The two-run double from Martinez increased his batting average with two outs and runners in scoring position to .468 (29-of-62) this season. The rest of the team combined has only a .225 average (120-of-533) with runners in scoring position and two outs.
Worth noting: The Cardinals added another player to the roster for the final week of the season. Infielder Edmundo Sosa was recalled from Memphis, providing the team more insurance and flexibility off the bench. Shildt said the move was independent of Kolten Wong missing the last two games because of hamstring issues. The Cardinals are hopeful Wong will be back in the lineup on Monday night … Sosa made his major-league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, drawing a walk, and then scored on Carpenter’s home run … Sosa and Gallegos became the 48th and 49th players to appear in a game for the Cardinals this season. Gallegos is the 30th pitcher they have used, including both infielders Greg Garcia and Jedd Gyorko.
Looking ahead: Jack Flaherty will start the opener of the series against the Brewers on Monday night, followed by Austin Gomber on Tuesday and John Gant on Wednesday.
