ST. LOUIS — For Miles Mikolas, throwing strikes translates to success — no matter where he’s pitching.
Mikolas, who spent the last three seasons in the Japanese Central League, tossed seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals completed their second sweep this season of the woeful Cincinnati Reds with a 9-2 victory on Sunday.
“I had great command over there,” Mikolas said of his stint with the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. “Pitching is pitching. You throw strikes and good things will happen.”
The Cardinals have won eight of nine overall and 11 in a row over the Reds.
Cincinnati, which has lost five in a row and 13 of 14, has the worst record in the majors at 3-18. The Reds are 0-3 — all against the Cardinals — since firing manager Bryan Price and replacing him with Jim Riggleman.
St. Louis took four games last week in Cincinnati. The Cardinals’ 11-game winning streak over the Reds is their longest since winning 11 straight in 1949.
Mikolas (3-0) gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter in what he called his best outing since returning to the majors.
“His stuff just continues to get better in our eyes,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s had that history of being able to be in the strike zone and that makes him efficient.”
Catcher Yadier Molina, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI, said Mikolas made his job easy.
“Everything was working,” Molina said. “I feel confident with him. I can call any pitch and he can throw it for strikes.”
Kolten Wong hit a solo homer in the second inning. De-Jong added a three-run shot in the seventh. Paul DeJong is tied for second in the NL with seven home runs.
Wong’s homer came off Luis Castillo (1-3), who allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked four.
“At the beginning of the first inning, I knew my command was not good enough,” Castillo said. “When that happens, you’ve got to go out there and compete. And that's what I did for the rest of the game.”
CARDINALS 9, REDS 2
The Cardinals added two runs in the third on a run-scoring infield single by Dexter Fowler, who reached base five times, and Tyler O'Neill’s sacrifice fly. It was O'Neill’s first major league RBI.
DeJong pushed the lead to 6-2 with his homer in the seventh off Kevin Quackenbush. He also hit a two-run homer in Saturday’s win.
“This series, I felt a lot more relaxed out there,” DeJong said. “The last couple of weeks, I faced some pretty good pitches.”
The Reds scored twice in the sixth. Joey Votto’s RBI infield single trimmed the deficit to 3-2.
“I can promise you this, hitters, whether the results show or not, are giving you 100 percent when they step into the batter’s box,” Riggleman said. “Their focus is going to be there. It’s just not happening right now.”
PHILLIES 3, PIRATES 2, 11 INNINGS Aaron Altherr’s RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning lifted Philadelphia over Pittsburgh, giving the Phillies their first four-game sweep over the Pirates in 24 years. Andrew Knapp hit an opposite-field triple off the left-field wall with one out off Rich Rodriguez (0-1). With the infield in, Altherr pulled a 1-2 pitch to left for his third hit. He raised his hand in the air, ran to first and got mobbed by teammates.
BREWERS 4, MARLINS 2 Christian Yelich hit his first homer since returning from the disabled list, Junior Guerra worked five innings, and Jeremy Jeffress and two other relievers did the rest for Milwaukee in a victory over Miami. Milwaukee completed a four-game sweep of Miami and has won six straight overall, its longest winning streak since 2015.
CUBS 9, ROCKIES 7 Nolan Arenado broke for home the moment Brandon Morrow’s bases-loaded pitch bounced to the backstop. Arenado wound up causing an unusual ending that left Colorado with a painful loss. Arenado was initially called safe and then was ruled out on a video review that ended a win for the Chicago Cubs. The game included diving catches in the outfield, sign stealing, a fan getting tackled on the infield and Cubs star Kris Bryant getting hit on the head by a pitch.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, PADRES 2 Patrick Corbin struck out 11 in six innings to improve to 4-0 in five starts, and Arizona became the first team in 15 years to win its first seven series of a season. Nick Ahmed hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, who took the last two from the Padres after losing the series opener.
DODGERS 4, NATIONALS 3 Cody Bellinger followed Yasmani Grandal’s two-run double with a tying RBI double in the sixth, and Corey Seager drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ sixth win in seven games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
INDIANS 7, ORIOLES 3 Jose Ramirez and the rest of the batting order finally got into a groove and the result was a 14-hit attack that carried Corey Kluber and Cleveland past Baltimore. Cleveland came into the game with a .211 team batting average and ranked second-to-last in the AL in runs scored. On this day, however, Ramirez hit a solo shot in the fourth inning and a two-run drive in the ninth, and Yan Gomes had three hits to lift his batting average 41 points to .261.
YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 1 Luis Severino pitched three-hit ball over seven innings and the youthful New York Yankees beat Toronto even as prized prospect Gleyber Torres went 0 for 4 in his major league debut. The 21-year-old Torres, who stranded six runners, played second base and batted eighth in a Yankees lineup that didn’t include a player 30 or older for the first time since Sept. 29, 1989, according to STATS. ROYALS 8, TIGERS 5 Mike Moustakas hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning, and Kansas City outlasted Detroit to earn a split of their four-game series. Abraham Almonte hit a grand slam in the sixth to give the Royals a 5-2 lead, but Detroit tied it with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Kansas City took the lead again when Drew VerHagen (0-1) walked two batters in the seventh and Moustakas hit a drive to right off Farmer. It was the sixth pitch of the at-bat. The Royals won for only the second time in 12 games, and Moustakas extended his hitting streak to 14.
RAYS 8, TWINS 6 After striking out three times in his four hitless at-bats, Carlos Gomez hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota.
ASTROS 7, WHITE SOX 1 Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead single in a five-run seventh inning, and Houston stretched its winning streak to six. Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1) allowed one run and eight hits over six innings, Evan Gattis hit his first home run of the season and the World Series champions completed a three-game sweep in which they outscored Chicago 27-2.
RANGERS 7, MARINERS 4 Martin Perez and Jake Diekman worked out of bases-loaded jams, and center fielder Delino DeShields had a homer-robbing catch in his first game back in the lineup for Texas Rangers. With that pitching and defense, and big homers by Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo in the same inning, the Rangers beat Seattle to avoid a series sweep.
ATHLETICS 4, RED SOX 1 Khris Davis hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, sending Oakland past Boston. A day after getting no-hit by Sean Manaea, the Red Sox lost back-to-back games for the first time under new manager Alex Cora. They had won their first six series this season before dropping two of three at the Coliseum. They still have the best record in the majors at 17-4.
INTERLEAGUE
GIANTS 4, ANGELS 2 San Francisco’s Brandon Belt hit eleven straight balls into the crowd on a full count against Jaime Barria, hanging in for an epic 21-pitch at-bat before lining out to right fielder Kole Calhoun. Belt later homered to lead Johnny Cueto and the Giants over the Los Angeles Angels. It was the longest at-bat in the majors since records began in 1988.