ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas marvels when talking about Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

“The guy is a real ballplayer,” Mikolas said. “Flat-out does everything. It’s no surprise.”

The right-hander pitched seven stellar innings and Molina hit one of three home runs that powered St. Louis past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 on Monday night.

Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong also went deep as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid.

Mikolas (4-2) allowed only three hits in his second-longest outing this year. He struck out a season-high five and did not issue a walk.

“This is pretty indicative, for sure,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said. “This is Miles and who he is and what we expect. A quality job across the board. He controlled counts. He was just in control.”

Mikolas did not lobby to stay in the game.

“I felt like I had a little left in the tank,” he said. “You don’t want to burn out your tires this early in the season.”

Molina thought location was the key for Mikolas.

“His curveball was good,” Molina explained. “His fastball, his location. He pitched a really good game. We located the fastball really good and when you do that, everything else is going to work.”

John Brebbia and Jordan Hicks finished the five-hitter. It was the second shutout this season for St. Louis.

Molina added two singles for a three-hit game. In his last 16 games at home, he has three homers and 18 RBI. He has hit safely in 14 of those games, batting .349 during that span.

“Good swings every time out,” Molina said. “I just want to put the ball in play hard.”

The Cardinals chased starter Vince Velasquez (1-2) in the fifth when he gave up two homers sandwiched around a single. He allowed five runs on four hits and five walks.

In his last seven games (six starts), Velasquez has received just seven runs of support.

“I think Vince had good stuff,” Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler said. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to put hitters away and I think probably the thing that stands out for me is the walks. That was the biggest difference between the two starting pitchers. I don’t think Vince got beat with the home runs; he got beat with the walks.”

Molina got the first St. Louis hit when he belted a 2-2 pitch into the left field seats in the fourth inning. He drove in Jose Martinez, who drew his second walk from Velasquez. Molina’s third home run of the season extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

St. Louis put together a big inning in the fifth, sending nine batters to the plate. Carpenter led off with a homer and, after Paul Goldschmidt singled, DeJong hit his seventh home run of the season.

Phillies reliever Edgar Garcia, making his big league debut, got an out but then gave up singles to Martinez and Molina. A wild pitch advanced both before Kolten Wong’s sacrifice fly accounted for the fourth run of the inning and a 6-0 lead.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Cardinals improved to 13-4 at Busch Stadium, the best home record in the National League and second in the majors. Houston is 10-3 at home.

ARCH NEMESIS

Philadelphia is 3-12 in its last 15 games in St. Louis. Since the start of the 2010 season, the Phillies are 12-24 at Busch Stadium.

TAKING A PASS

Carpenter became the fastest Cardinals player to reach 600 career walks.

ROSTER MOVE

Philadelphia recalled Garcia from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and optioned RHP Enyel De Los Santos to its top farm club. “Got a fairly heavy right-handed-hitting lineup for the Cardinals and I think it’d be valuable to have him for the series,” Kapler said about Garcia.

SPECIAL VISITOR

Dabo Swinney, coach of Clemson’s national champion football team, visited Shildt at Busch Stadium. The two met during spring training when Shildt invited Swinney to speak to the ballclub.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: INF Scott Kingery (right hamstring) took grounders before the game at shortstop. “Ground balls were not full speed, just a little to his left and right,” Kapler said. “Some tag plays at second, but a good step in the right direction.”

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (shoulder) pitched Sunday in the fifth inning for Class A Peoria and retired three batters on six pitches, getting three groundouts. “I’ll take three outs on six pitches every day, regardless,” Shildt said. “It was great for Carlos. We’re happy for him. He’s back here. He’ll play catch and then he’ll go to (Triple-A) Memphis and get an opportunity in the next couple days to throw again and we’ll just continue to evaluate where we are with him.”

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Aaron Nola (2-0, 5.06 ERA) gave up one run and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in his last start against Detroit but did not figure in the decision. He is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Dakota Hudson (2-2, 4.80) will be making his first regular-season appearance against the Phillies. He had a career-high seven strikeouts and went six innings for the first time in his last start, a 2-1 loss at Washington.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Bryant hit his fourth career grand slam in Chicago’s six-run eighth inning and the Cubs pounded the St. Louis Cardinals 13-5 on Sunday night for their season-high seventh consecutive victory.

Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo and David Bote each drove in two runs, helping the Cubs leapfrog the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. Ben Zobrist had two hits and made two nice plays in left field as Chicago completed its first three-game sweep of St. Louis since September 2017.

Since opening the season with eight losses in 11 games, the Cubs have been on a roll. They have won 16 of 20 for the first time since they went 16-4 in August 2016.

The crowd of 36,499 chanted “Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!” after Bryant connected with two outs in the eighth, belting a drive to center off Dominic Leone for his fourth homer.

Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna homered in the ninth inning for St. Louis, which lost its season-high fourth straight game. Adam Wainwright (3-3) allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, dropping to 11-4 in 26 career games at Wrigley Field.

The Cardinals got at least one hit in seven innings, but left nine runners on base. Jose Quintana (4-1) also received some help from his defense.

Contreras threw out Paul Goldschmidt attempting to steal second in the first. Zobrist cut down Matt Carpenter trying to go from first to third on Goldschmidt’s one-out single in the third, then made a diving grab to rob Yadier Molina of a hit with a runner on first in the fourth.

Contreras’ ninth homer helped Chicago build a 3-0 lead. St. Louis pulled within one on Molina’s two-run double in the sixth, but Kolten Wong left runners on the corners when he bounced out on Quintana’s 103rd and final pitch.

The Cubs poured it on with 10 runs in their last three at-bats. Rizzo doubled in two runs and Contreras added an RBI single in the sixth. Zobrist singled home Albert Almora Jr. in the seventh, and Bote and Almora each doubled in a run before Bryant went deep in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (shoulder) pitched a perfect inning in his first rehab appearance with Class A Peoria. Martinez is expected to work out of the bullpen when he returns to the majors.

Cubs: 2B Daniel Descalso (sore left ankle) was out of the starting lineup. He was scheduled to see a doctor, and manager Joe Maddon thought Descalso might be available off the bench. Descalso got hurt during Saturday’s 6-5 win. … C Victor Caratini took batting practice on the field for the first time since he had surgery last month to repair a broken bone in his left hand. … LHP Xavier Cedeno (left wrist inflammation) got one out and allowed two hits in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa. He is expected to pitch for Iowa again on Monday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (3-2, 4.73 ERA) gets the ball when St. Louis opens a seven-game homestand with the first of three against Philadelphia on Monday night. Mikolas pitched six crisp innings in a 5-1 win at Washington on Wednesday night. RHP Vince Velasquez (1-1, 2.73 ERA) starts for the Phillies.

Cubs: LHP Cole Hamels (3-0, 3.19 ERA) pitches Monday night in the opener of a four-game series against Miami. Hamels is coming off consecutive no-decisions against the Dodgers and Mariners, issuing nine walks in 10 2/3 innings. RHP Sandy Alcantara (1-3, 4.86) starts for the last-place Marlins.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Taylor Davis got the comeback started with a grand slam in the fourth inning. Javier Baez finished it with a go-ahead homer in the eighth.

Just like that, the surging Cubs are in position to grab the NL Central lead.

Baez led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking drive, and Chicago wiped out a four-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 on Saturday.

Baez drove a 2-2 pitch from John Brebbia (1-1) the opposite way to right for his 11th homer , sending the Cubs to their season-high sixth straight win. Fans chanted “Javy! Javy!” as he came out for a curtain call.

Davis hit a tying grand slam in the fourth against Michael Wacha for his first career homer, after Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Brandon Kintzler (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth. Pedro Strop retired all three batters in the ninth for his fourth save in five chances as the Cubs cut St. Louis’ lead in the NL Central to a half-game despite a shaky start by Yu Darvish. They’re also eyeing a potential weekend sweep of their rivals.

“The first 10 games of the season, it was everybody talking about us,” Baez said. “And now, where’s everybody?”

The Cubs sure have turned things around after a 2-7 start. Baez coming through in a big moment is nothing new. But for Davis, this was different.

Recalled from Triple-A Iowa three weeks ago, he became the first Cubs player to hit a grand slam for his first career homer since pitcher Kevin Tapani at Atlanta on July 20, 1998. He came into the game with five hits in 23 at-bats since debuting with Chicago in 2017.

“It was a really, really fun feeling hearing Wrigley Field react like that,” Davis said.

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt had no regrets about walking Schwarber with runners on second and third to get to Davis.

“Schwarber is a guy who can do damage,” he said. “We got a guy who hits the ball on the ground, we got a great chance at a double play to get out of it. We know they’re probably going to hit for Darvish, we take our shot with probably (Jason) Heyward at that point in time. He got a pitch and put a swing on it and it was a big swing.”

DARVISH STRUGGLES

Darvish threw 81 pitches, just as Kyle Hendricks did in Friday’s four-hit shutout, but was nowhere near as effective. He gave up five runs and six hits while walking five in four-plus innings.

Jose Martinez homered leading off the second for the Cardinals. Wacha delivered in a big way at the plate, tying a career high with two hits, but couldn’t protect a 5-1 lead as St. Louis lost its third straight game.

Wacha doubled and scored in the third, and drove in two with a single during a three-run fourth. His only other two-hit game was at Wrigley Field on July 8, 2015.

But he gave up five runs — four earned — and six hits in five innings.

NO TIME

Martinez had a long, heated exchange with plate umpire Larry Vanover batting in the ninth. Martinez held his hand up to call time so he could get his timing down, but the request was not granted. Instead, Strop threw a strike and that led to the argument.

Shildt came out to talk to Vanover, and Yadier Molina got between Martinez and the umpire. Martinez said he had a tough time focusing after that and struck out.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: CF Dexter Fowler was back in the lineup. He pinch hit in the ninth inning Friday after missing the previous three games because of flu-like symptoms.

Cubs: 2B Daniel Descalso is day to day after leaving the game because of a sore left ankle. He was hurt rounding first on a single in the first inning and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fourth. … LHP Mike Montgomery (mild left lat strain) appears close to rejoining the Cubs after throwing six solid innings for Triple-A Iowa on Friday. “It sounds like he’s checked all the boxes,” manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s always about the next day, making sure everything’s cool, and then we’ll make our moves after that. But yeah, it was very encouraging to hear what he did.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (3-2, 3.73 ERA) looks to win his third straight start. He held Washington to two runs in a season-high 6 1/3 innings on Tuesday.

Cubs: LHP Jose Quintana (3-1, 3.48) tries to continue his strong run, with a 3-0 record and 1.69 ERA in his past four starts.

— Associated Press —

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg reached 1,500 strikeouts in fewer innings than any pitcher in major league history, and the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 after a long rain delay Thursday to salvage the finale of a four-game series.

Despite the strong performance by Strasburg, the Nationals (13-17) fired pitching coach Derek Lilliquist after the game and replaced him with minor league pitching coordinator Paul Menhart. General manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement moments after the final out.

Strasburg (3-1) lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up a run on six hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. He got opposing starter Dakota Hudson looking in the fifth for his eighth strikeout of the game and the 1,500th of his career — in 1,272 1/3 innings.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Boston left-hander Chris Sale held the previous mark, reaching 1,500 in 2017 after 1,290 innings.

Sean Doolittle struck out pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt with the bases loaded to end the eighth, then finished for his fourth save.

Hudson (2-2) allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits in six innings. Kolten Wong hit an RBI single and Yairo Munoz had three hits for St. Louis, which had won five straight.

The teams combined for 14 hits, all singles.

The Nationals scored twice in the fourth without an RBI.

Howie Kendrick came home when Munoz committed a throwing error from shortstop on Yan Gomes’ grounder, and Matt Adams scored from third when Brian Dozier grounded into a double play.

The start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 32 minutes.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement), who threw to seven batters during a pregame batting practice session Wednesday, came out of it fine, according to manager Mike Shildt. … OF Dexter Fowler (illness) was better Thursday and Shildt was hopeful Fowler would be available off the bench after missing two games.

Nationals: RF Juan Soto (back spasms) was a late scratch for the second straight game but was available to pinch hit. . Manager Dave Martinez said SS Trea Turner (broken finger) could begin swinging the bat this week. . INF Carter Kieboom, who was 3 for 22 since his major league debut, was given a day off.

PICKED OFF

St. Louis had runners on first and second with no outs in the third before Gomes picked off Matt Wieters at second base from behind the plate. Hudson then sacrificed Munoz to second and the Cardinals settled for one run on Wong’s single.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (3-1, 4.06 ERA) pitches when the Cardinals open a three-game series Friday at the Chicago Cubs. Flaherty has not allowed a run in 12 innings this season during day games.

Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 5.82) starts when the Nationals open a three-game series in Philadelphia on Friday night. Hellickson pitched six shutout innings against the Phillies on April 10.

— Associated Press —

WASHINGTON (AP) — Miles Mikolas outpitched Max Scherzer, Marcell Ozuna had three hits and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 5-1 Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.

Jose Martinez drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who have won 10 of 11.

Washington has lost the first three games of the series and six of their last seven overall, and fell to 12-17.

The Cardinals touched up Scherzer (1-4) for three runs in the first as Victor Robles — playing right in place of Juan Soto, who was scratched from the lineup with back spasms — misread Ozuna’s flyball and it went for an RBI double. Martinez delivered a two-run single a batter later.

Scherzer pitched seven innings and struck out eight. He yielded eight hits, half of them coming in the first inning.

The Nationals mustered a run in the fourth, but couldn’t solve Mikolas (3-2), who was winless in his first three road starts this year. The right-hander gave up a run and seven hits while striking out four in six innings, and his final pitch resulted in a flyball to left by Michael A. Taylor fly that Ozuna caught while backed up against the door to the visitor’s bullpen.

St. Louis added two runs in the eighth off Joe Ross, ending the Washington bullpen’s scoreless streak at 16 innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement) threw to seven batters during a pregame batting practice session. “Stuff looked good. He had some later movement to his ball, had some finish to his pitches,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We’ll see how he recovers and based on that and based on the next couple days we’ll find the right spot to get him activated.” . OF Dexter Fowler (illness) was unavailable for the second game in a row.

Nationals: Soto, who is hitting .248 with six homers and 22 RBI, had played every inning in each of Washington’s first 28 games before he was scratched from the original lineup. He was available but was not used off the bench.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Dakota Hudson (2-1, 5.63 ERA) looks to win his third consecutive start. He is 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA in four lifetime appearances (all in relief) against Washington.

Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 3.82) faces the Cardinals for the first time since 2016 as the four-game series concludes.

— Associated Press —