The St. Louis Cardinals (73-54, 71-56 RL, 61-62-4 O/U) take on the Cincinnati Reds (50-76, 60-66 RL, 62-60-4 O/U) in the first of a three-game divisional series on Monday evening. The Cardinals will have Miles Mikolas on the hill seeking his 11th win. The Reds counter with Chase Anderson. The Cards lead the season series 7-4.
The Cards will have Miles Mikolas take the mound for the 27th time of the season. Mikolas wasn’t quite at his best last time out, conceding five runs (three earned) in 6.2 innings against the Cubs, and was hit with the loss to fall to 10-10. The veteran right-hander has logged a 5.40 ERA this month but is a reliable pitcher and enters with a 3.35 ERA and a strong 1.02 WHIP in 165 innings pitched on the season. Mikolas has conceded seven runs in 12 innings against the Reds this season and is 3-4 with a 5.37 ERA in 67 career innings.
The Cards have a comfortable six-game lead ahead of the Brewers atop the NL Central. They only play the rivals four more times this season. St. Louis has no problem winning on the road where they are 7-3 in their last ten games to climb to an even .500 on the road on the year.
Nolan Arenado continues to deliver at the plate, accumulating a whopping 24 RBIs and a 1.1 OPS this month. The 31-year-old slugger has 27 big flies along with 84 RBIs and a .941 OPS on the year. He has launched two homers and three RBIs in his last three bouts.
The Cardinals are scoring an average of 4.87 runs per game, good for fourth overall. The pitching staff has logged a 3.83 team ERA, placing them 12th in the Major Leagues.