St. Louis starter Mikolas ruins Davies’ day with his bat
When game-planning against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers undoubtedly list Adam Wainwright and Carlos Martinez as pitchers who can handle themselves in the batter's box.
Miles Mikolas might be added to that list after the swing he unleashed against Zach Davies on Monday afternoon at Miller Park. His two-run home run in the fifth inning put the Cardinals ahead to stay in an eventual 8-4 Brewers loss - their
fourth straight setback in opener.
"Any pitcher home run, pitcher RBIs, it always feels tough to come back from that," manager Craig Counsell said. "Pitcher offensive production from the other team is something that stings, for sure, and a home run is kind of the last thing you’re expecting."
Especially from a relative unknown who'd pitched in Japan the previous three seasons and who had a grand total of five major-league plate appearances to his credit with no hits coming into the game.
Things changed quickly for Davies in that fifth, as he retired the first two batters in the inning before plunking No. 8 hitter Jedd Gyorko in the ribs. That brought up Mikolas, who on the third offering from Davies belted an 86-mph cutter out to left to give St. Louis a 4-2 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The homer made Mikolas the first Cardinals pitcher to homer for his first career hit since Mark Worrell on June 5, 2008.
It also undoubtedly made both Counsell and Davies scratch their heads.
"We’re sitting there with two outs, nobody out and 8-9 coming up, and they end up with two runs," Counsell said. "To me, that’s the inning that hurt us. I know they ended up putting up a big number in the sixth, but you’ve got two outs in an inning and the pitcher is one of those hitters. "You’re thinking zero there." Davies said he really didn't know anything about Mikolas' hitting coming into the game, but he knew quickly he'd made a mistake as he watched the ball sail into the seats.
"Just a bad pitch," he said. "Ball slipped middle-up, and he crushed it."
The 4-2 lead certainly wasn't insurmountable, especially with Mikolas (1-0) already having given up a homer in the second to Manny Piña and another in the third to Lorenzo Cain. But a four-run sixth against Davies and Brandon Woodruff ended any doubt.
Davies surrendered four singles and a sacrifice fly in the span of five batters to open the sixth, and after he departed with two on and two outs, Woodruff gave up a three-run homer to Paul DeJong that stretched the Cardinals' lead to 8-2.
Davies was held back in the rotation so he'd be able to start two big divisional games this week - the home opener Monday and a game Saturday against the Chicago
their home Cubs.
But the final line for the right-hander against the Cardinals wasn't pretty: 52⁄ innings
3 eight hits and seven runs (six earned) to go along with six strikeouts in an 88-pitch outing. He also took the loss.
"It was probably one of the worst games to go out there and not have your stuff and kind of give it up," Davies said. It’s a fun day and when eight runs go up on the board for the other team, it kind of puts a damper on the day."
Despite the outcome, Counsell said there were some things he liked from Davies.
"I thought Zach threw the ball well, I really did," he said. "I think he pitched well. He struck out six, no walks. There’s a hit by pitch, two (more pitches) and a home run, and to me that kind of puts you behind the 8-ball a little bit.
"It was the big point in the game. It was really a three-pitch sequence."
With Jimmy Nelson still out recovering from shoulder surgery and Davies' status as the team's second-best pitcher, there's little question the Brewers are going to be looking for more from the 25-year-old in his subsequent starts.
He's been a slow starter since joining the rotation in 2016, going 2-5 with a 7.34 earned run average and WHIP of 2.00 in eight total starts. Last season, Davies started 7-4 with a 5.40 ERA over his first 15 starts only to recover to go 17-9 overall with a 3.90 ERA.
Davies also has struggled at Miller Park, with his 5.82 ERA in 17 home starts last season second highest in the major leagues.
Davies said during spring training he was looking to reverse those trends this season. Already off to a rough start, it won't get any easier for him in a few days' time with the Cubs' power-laden lineup coming to town.