Cardinals fall behind early, can't climb back in series-sweeping loss to Diamondbacks

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jul 20, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Stepping onto the mound after rocky starts proved costly for the St. Louis Cardinals in their first two games of a three-game series in Arizona, and starter Miles Mikolas’ troubling first frame dug a hole too deep for the Cardinals to claw out of Sunday at Chase Field.

Mikolas allowed four runs in the first inning, the first three of which came with one out on a home run from Eugenio Suarez. He surrendered another run in the third inning on a solo homer from Suarez before exiting following four innings in a 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The start for Mikolas, who had turned in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his final start before the break, marked the second time in his previous four starts he was pulled after four innings of work. He’s allowed 10 home runs across that stretch and 17 over 19 starts this season.

Down 4-0 after the first inning, Cardinals bats could not find a rhythm against Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly, even after a chance to do so presented itself.

The Cardinals (51-49) pushed across a run in the third inning and had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth inning but could only come away with one run on a groundout from Brendan Donovan. Kelly kept the Cardinals to three hits and worked around four walks to give the Diamondbacks their third quality start of the weekend.

The Cardinals threatened to tie the game in the ninth inning when Jordan Walker doubled home Masyn Winn with two outs in the frame against reliever Anthony DeSclafani. Representing the potential game-tying run, Victor Scott II flied out to right field to end the loss.

The series sweep dropped the Cardinals to two games above .500 for the season and helped Arizona (50-50) get back to .500 as they look to make up ground in the National League wild-card race. Since sweeping the Guardians during the final weekend of June, the Cardinals have gone 4-11 in their past 15 games. That stretch includes a three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates and series losses to the Cubs and Braves.

Leaving birds on bases

When patience paid off for the Cardinals to open the fifth inning, the top of their order could not fully capitalize on the opportunity the bottom third of their lineup created.

Walks to Yohel Pozo, Walker and Scott loaded the bases for the Cardinals as the lineup wrapped back around to leadoff hitter Donovan.

A six-pitch battle during which Donovan fouled off three pitches ended with a slow ground ball to first base that allowed Pozo to score without a throw to home for the Cardinals’ second run and the only run they scored that inning.

Herrera’s inability to lay off a slider that got him to chase out of the strike zone recorded the second out of the inning for Kelly. Alec Burleson, responsible for the Cardinals’ lone run on Saturday, rolled a ground-ball to first base on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

Early trouble again

For a second consecutive day, a Cardinals starter could not escape the first inning against the Diamondbacks without leaving the Cardinals in an early hole. How the rough first inning transpired Sunday had some similarities to Saturday’s loss.

After Sonny Gray had his first inning on Saturday begin with a leadoff triple from Corbin Carroll and included a homer from Suarez, those two All-Stars troubled Mikolas on Sunday.

Mikolas saw Carroll pull his first pitch of the game into the right field corner, allowing the speedy outfielder to race to third base for his 13th triple of the season. When he worked with runners on first and second base following a ground ball that allowed Geraldo Perdomo to reach base and a walk to Josh Naylor, Mikolas surrendered a 425-foot home run to Suarez on a slider left elevated to the All-Star third baseman.

Mikolas had been ahead of Suarez when he landed a slider for a called strike and threw a sinker that Suarez fouled off.

Keeping bullpen sharp

Unable to deploy his high-leverage bullpen arms in lopsided losses to begin the series, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol called on that core despite trailing Arizona. The opportunities gave them their first innings since before the All-Star break.

In relief of Mikolas, Steven Matz (one inning), Riley O’Brien (one inning), JoJo Romero (one inning) and closer Ryan Helsley (one inning) made appearances.

O’Brien and Romero collected two strikeouts apiece in their outings.

As a unit, the Cardinals bullpen kept Arizona to three hits and no walks across five innings.

Snake-bitten by Suarez

Viewed as one of the top trade candidates ahead of the July 31 deadline if Arizona decides to become sellers, Suarez boosted his value with a powerful three-game set against the Cardinals.

Following his three-run homer in the first inning, the slugging third baseman belted a solo home run in the third inning to give him 35 on the season. The two-homer performance marked his second in as many games.

Over three games against the Cardinals, Suarez went 5 for 14 with four homers and seven RBIs.

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