PITTSBURGH • Miles Mikolas’ Cardinals club-record streak of consecutive starts in which he had issued two walks or fewer ended at 43 in the fourth inning Friday night when he walked two Pittsburgh hitters, running his game total to three.
Those two-out passes plus a single by Jose Osuna loaded the bases with two outs but the righthander retired Jacob Stallings on a fly to right to preserve the Cardinals’ 2-1 lead. Mikolas hadn't walked more than two in a game since July 4 of last year when he walked four at Arizona.
The Cardinals threatened in the fifth but left fielder Bryan Reynolds raced into left center, in the deepest part of PNC Park, to make a tumbling catch on Dexter Fowler’s drive, which likely would have been a triple.