Category: Major League Baseball (MLB)

The Los Angeles Angels are not the same team the Seattle Mariners faced in the first week of April.

The Angels will look to show how much they’ve improved on Saturday when the American League West rivals continue their three-game series in Anaheim, Calif.

In particular, Los Angeles has revamped a bullpen that struggled during the first two months of the season.

Five relievers who were on the opening day roster — Jimmy Herget, Matt Moore, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Wantz and Jose Quijada — are currently not on the active roster, either on the injured list, in the minors or released.

The Angels have opted to go with some young and inexperienced arms, calling up Ben Joyce, Sam Bachman and Jose Soriano. But they also are relying on Chris Devenski, a 32-year-old veteran who has playoff experience and was an All-Star with the Houston Astros in 2017.

Devenski began the season at Triple-A Salt Lake before being called up April 29. He has been the Angels’ best reliever other than closer Carlos Estevez, who improved to 17-for-17 in save opportunities after shutting the door in Friday’s 5-4 win over the Mariners.

Devenski grew up in Southern California, was an Angels fan and attended nearby Cal State Fullerton. He is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 16 relief appearances this season. He has 22 strikeouts and zero walks in 21 1/3 innings.

Devenski also been good at putting out fires. He has stranded 17 of 20 inherited runners (85 percent), significantly better than the league average of 68 percent.

“I think you just go out there and make your pitches and focus on executing,” Devenski said. “Those are big situations. I like those situations. I feel an extra little boost of adrenaline so I can use that to my advantage.”

Angels manager Phil Nevin is comfortable with Devenski in those high-leverage situations.

“He throws strikes and he understands the situation,” Nevin said. “He’s just really smart, understanding the situation, where they can potentially hit a ball if he throws it in the right place. He’s been there. He’s done that.”

Left-hander Patrick Sandoval (3-5, 4.14 ERA) will make his 12th start of the season for Los Angeles. He is 0-3 with a 2.45 ERA in seven career starts against Seattle.

Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo (0-1, 27.00) will make his second major-league appearance on Saturday. In his only start this season, Woo got rocked for six runs and seven hits in two innings against the Texas Rangers in a 16-6 loss on June 3.

Woo, who was called up from Double-A Arkansas to start in place of the injured Marco Gonzales, tried to focus on the positive despite the numbers.

“I was definitely able to settle in a little bit,” Woo said. “My fastball was coming out pretty well. I was, obviously, a little amped up. My energy was a little high, so I tried to control it the best I could and take it pitch by pitch.”

–Field Level Media

Chicago Cubs leadoff man Nick Madrigal and pretty much all Giants hitters not named Joc Pederson will look for improved efforts Saturday when the clubs continue their three-game series in San Francisco.

Madrigal contributed only a walk in his return from Triple-A, but the Cubs benefited from a three-run seventh inning in their 3-2 victory over the Giants on Friday.

Marcus Stroman won a pitchers’ duel against Anthony DeSclafani, helping Chicago halt a four-game losing streak while ending San Francisco’s run of consecutive wins at three.

With the Cubs having scored two or fewer runs in seven of their last 10 games, team management decided the time was right to promote Madrigal. He was batting .488 over an 11-game span with Triple-A Iowa.

Madrigal had hit just .247 in 34 major league games this season before Friday’s game. As manager David Ross put it, Madrigal was sent to the minors to “try and get him back on track.”

The move appears to have worked, even if Friday’s initial returns were an 0-for-3 performance.

“There’s a lot of emotions, especially at first,” Madrigal said of the demotion. “But I felt like I got into a good groove and just really found my swing and the style of play I usually play. It was nice to go down there and just play.”

If Madrigal gets another shot Saturday, chances are it will come against a series of Giants relievers. The team is expected to resort to quantity over quality as it attempts to fill a void left by the injured Alex Wood (back strain).

Right-hander John Brebbia (2-0, 3.65 ERA), who has thrown shutout ball in four of five outings as an opener this season, is expected to start for the Giants on Saturday. He is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in 20 career appearances (one start) vs. Chicago.

The Cubs are slated to turn to right-hander Kyle Hendricks (0-2, 4.70), who has not pitched well in his last three starts. He hasn’t received much support, either.

The California native has thrown a total of 15 1/3 innings in those starts, allowing 18 hits. Meanwhile, his teammates have put up only three runs in those contests.

Hendricks is coming off a 5-0 road loss to the San Diego Padres on Monday in which he allowed four runs in six innings. The 33-year-old has gone 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 10 career starts against the Giants.

He will face a Giants team that, despite Pederson’s career-high-tying four hits, came crashing back to sea level Friday. San Francisco totaled 21 runs while notching three straight wins against the Colorado Rockies from Tuesday through Thursday.

Asked if his club had lost any momentum in Friday’s two-run, seven-hit effort, San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler simply said, “That’s baseball.”

“You’re going to have some games when you’re not swinging the bat like you want and you’re not putting up crooked numbers like we did in Colorado,” he continued. “Then you have one inning that doesn’t go well (in the field) and you lose a baseball game. You quickly turn the page and get ready to play again tomorrow.”

–Field Level Media

The Houston Astros are exploring their options without designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who landed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique injury on Friday.

The Astros will look to regroup when they continue a three-game series against the host Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.

Yainer Diaz started at DH in place of Alvarez on Friday, when the Astros fell 10-9 to the Guardians in 14 innings. Cleveland won the contest on run-scoring doubles by Tyler Freeman and Will Brennan in the final frame as Houston squandered a lead for the fifth time on the night.

“It’s a marathon,” Brennan said. “Who knew that game would’ve gone 14 innings. Usually those last about until the 10th or 11th. So it’s really important that we kept our minds in it and stuck around and battled. That’s what we do.”

Cleveland has won three straight, while Houston has dropped a season-high four consecutive games.

The Astros will be hard-pressed to replace Alvarez, who was batting .272 with 17 home runs and a major-league-high 55 RBIs in 57 games.

“Guys just have to pick it up,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “We still have some horses here. We have some guys who come to play. We’ve just got to tighten our game up. We might have to change our philosophy some since we don’t have that big bat to hit the ball out of the ballpark, but we’ll find a way.”

Diaz, normally a backup catcher, went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI on Friday. Another catcher, Cesar Salazar, also could get additional at-bats in Alvarez’s absence.

Houston will send right-hander J.P. France (1-1, 3.44 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. The 28-year-old rookie received a no-decision after allowing three hits over seven innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. He had a no-hitter for the first 5 1/3 innings of that contest.

France has settled into the Houston rotation with a 29-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first six career starts covering 34 innings. He will be facing the Guardians for the first time.

“I don’t think you can ever really get comfortable because once you start to get comfortable, that’s when bad stuff tends to happen,” France said. “But once I’m on the field, it kind of feels like home.”

Cleveland will counter with right-hander Triston McKenzie (0-0, 0.00), who is hoping to build on a successful season debut. He returned after being out with a teres major muscle strain and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out 10 over five scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

“I thought that was more than you could expect,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “I mean, he worked so hard and he was diligent in everything. But then you get into a major league game and it’s different. But to see him come out, use all of his pitches, have his fastball have some life through the zone — that flew past encouraging.”

Jose Altuve is 3-for-7 with two homers against McKenzie, who is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in three career starts vs. Houston.

Cleveland’s offense has picked up over the past week with Josh Naylor leading the charge. The first baseman is 18-for-36 (.500) with 13 RBIs and 11 runs during his career-high, nine-game hitting streak.

Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez is also on a hot streak, going 6-for-9 with four homers, a double and six RBIs in the past two games.

–Field Level Media

The Tampa Bay Rays will look for their eighth straight win on Saturday when they host the Texas Rangers in the second contest of a three-game series between baseball’s two winningest teams in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The American League East-leading Rays (47-19) cruised to an 8-3 victory over the American League West-leading Rangers (40-22) in the opener.

The Rays got two home runs and a career-high six RBIs from Isaac Paredes, while Tyler Glasnow was terrific on the mound, allowing just a run on one hit to go along with six strikeouts and three walks over six innings on Friday.

The Rangers, who have dropped two straight after winning seven of the previous eight, will need to beat the Rays twice if they are to win their seventh straight series. Tampa Bay is a major-league-best 30-6 at home this season.

The Rays will look to take the series on Saturday behind 22-year-old rookie Taj Bradley (4-2, 3.60 ERA). The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks over five innings to pick up a 6-2 win against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

Bradley has allowed more than three runs just once in seven starts this season. He has 48 strikeouts and just eight walks in 35 innings.

“I’m not the kind of person to get too caught up in anything,” Bradley said. “If I were to meet a celebrity or pitch in a big game, I wouldn’t be making too much of a moment of it. I always downplay things. I mean, you do get your nerves, but I don’t build it up. Someone might say, ‘Oh, you made your debut,’ or ‘Oh, you got a win against the Red Sox,’ but I just go about my day.”

Bradley will have a tough assignment when he faces the Rangers for the first time in his brief career. Texas has scored a major-league-high 389 runs this season (Tampa Bay is second with 380), and the Rangers have scored at least six runs in 12 of their past 25 games.

Texas has scored at least 10 runs in 16 games this season, the best total in the big leagues. The Rays are next with eight double-digit games.

The Rangers will send ace right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (8-2, 2.24) to the mound on Saturday. Eovaldi allowed one hit and no walks over six shutout innings while striking out seven in a 12-3 win over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

“Everybody I feel like is groovin’ right now,” Eovaldi said after his latest start. “You can’t say enough about our offense. It just makes my job a little easier to go out there and attack the guys knowing that I’ve got a few runs to play with.”

Eovaldi, who has given up more than one earned run in just one of his past seven starts, hasn’t been nearly as dominant throughout his career against the Rays. He is 5-6 with a 4.04 ERA in 15 appearances, including 13 starts, against Tampa Bay.

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves will use another of their young pitchers on Saturday when they host the Washington Nationals and try to extend their winning streak to seven games.

Atlanta will start rookie Jared Shuster (2-2, 4.99 ERA) against Washington’s MacKenzie Gore (3-4, 3.66) in a battle of left-handers.

The Braves won the opening game of the three-games series 3-2 on Friday by scoring twice in the eighth inning. It was their fifth straight come-from-behind victory. The Nationals took their fifth loss in a row.

Shuster, 24, will follow 20-year-old Braves rookie AJ Smith-Shawver, who pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, in his first major league start on Friday.

Shuster made his major league debut against the Nationals on April 2 and took the loss after allowing four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Shuster made one more start before being sent to Triple-A Gwinnett. He was summoned back to Atlanta in mid-May and was reinserted in the rotation.

Since being recalled, Shuster has made four starts, going 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA. In his latest start, a May 31 win at Oakland, he allowed two runs on three hits with four walks and one strikeout in 5 1/3 innings.

“I think I’m just throwing a lot more strikes,” Shuster said. “A couple more walks (against the A’s), but other than that I got some weak contact, pretty efficient. I think since I’ve been up, I’m just trusting myself more and being more in sync with my deliveries. It helped a lot.”

For Washington, Gore, 24, was a first-round draft choice of the San Diego Padres in 2017 but was shipped to the Nationals as a key piece in the Juan Soto trade last August.

Gore has been a cornerstone of the Washington rotation this season, though he is winless in his past seven starts.

In his most recent outing, last Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, Gore pitched six innings and allowed three runs on nine hits and no walks with six strikeouts. His best start came at Kansas City on May 28, when he threw seven innings, his longest outing of the season, and allowed only one run on three hits and one walk while logging a career-high 11 strikeouts.

“Just aggressive,” Gore said. “I want to be the best version of myself. I like executing pitches and doing what I’m supposed to do. Just being aggressive and going at guys, and we’re doing an OK job with that. Just have been throwing some bad pitches that have been homers or just hits that really cost me the last however-it’s-been.”

Gore has made two career starts against the Braves, going 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA. He beat them on April 2 when he gave up one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.

Gore will attempt to slow Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia, who continues to provide key hits. The second baseman drove in two runs on Friday, including what proved to be the game-winner in the eighth.

On the current homestand, Arcia is batting .500 (8-for-16) with a double, a home run and six RBIs, raising his batting average to .324.

–Field Level Media

The Oakland Athletics look to earn just their fourth series win of the season as they take on the host Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday afternoon.

The Athletics won their season-high third game in a row on Friday night, defeating Milwaukee 5-2 in the opener of a three-game set.

“It’s been good, pretty smooth,” right fielder Ramon Laureano said after the game regarding the mood in the Athletics’ clubhouse. “Hopefully we can continue this and have a good month of June.”

After taking two out of three in Pittsburgh, Oakland had an off day before beginning the series in Milwaukee. The Athletics’ manager was pleased with his team’s effort following the travel day.

“You tend to worry about a lag or lower level of energy, but these guys came out tonight and showed the fight that we’ve been talking about all year,” Mark Kotsay said. “We’re continuing to grind. It’s a good sign that we’re fighting.”

The Athletics were able to chase Adrian Houser in the fifth inning on Friday. The Milwaukee starter had allowed more than three earned runs in an outing just once this season before yielding five against Oakland.

“Credit to them. They had a good game plan, didn’t chase much,” Houser said. “I think everyone forgets they’re still a major league baseball team, they’re still talented, they’re still competitors.”

Friday saw a couple familiar faces return to Milwaukee for the first time in a while. Esteury Ruiz was a Brewer for a short time in 2022 after being part of the August trade that sent Josh Hader to San Diego. Then in the offseason, he was sent to Oakland as part of the three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves and William Contreras to the Brewers.

Also, infielder Jace Peterson, who spent the past three seasons with Milwaukee, is now hitting .221 with Oakland.

Additionally, A’s reliever Lucas Erceg was an infield prospect in the Brewers’ system from 2016-22. He transitioned to pitching full time after the 2021 season, and Oakland purchased his contract from Milwaukee last month. He is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in nine appearances (12 innings) for the A’s.

Paul Blackburn (0-0, 6.00 ERA) will take the mound for Oakland on Saturday. The 29-year-old right hander missed the first two months this season due to hand injuries. He has made two starts, totaling nine innings, since returning. In nine total innings, Blackburn has struck out nine while allowing six hits and four walks.

Blackburn will be opposing the Brewers for the first time in his career.

Milwaukee’s Julio Teheran (1-2, 1.56 ERA) will attempt to continue his hot start with his new team.

After being signed as a free agent on May 25, Teheran has made three starts with Milwaukee. In 17 1/3 innings, he has allowed just three earned runs while striking out 10 and walking two.

In three career starts vs. Oakland, Teheran is 1-0 with a 5.56 ERA.

This is the first series between the teams since the 2019 season and the first time Oakland has been in Milwaukee since 2016.

The Athletics are just 8-26 on the road this season, the worst away mark in the majors.

–Field Level Media

The Baltimore Orioles haven’t experienced sustained success over the past few weeks.

Now they have a chance to get something going.

The Orioles will pursue their third consecutive win when they face the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series.

Baltimore won 3-2 Friday in the series opener, giving the Orioles consecutive victories for the first time since May 24-25.

“We had a tough stretch on the road there, the schedule and just not being able to put up enough runs,” Orioles left fielder Austin Hays said. “To bounce back and get a big Game 1 win was huge for us.”

The Royals have lost four games in a row and seven of their past eight. In that eight-game stretch, they have scored more than two runs just twice — and lost both times.

“Anytime you don’t hit, there’s a guy on the other side of the field trying to get you out,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said.

Kansas City’s starting pitcher Saturday will be right-hander Brady Singer (4-4, 6.45 ERA), who has won his past two decisions and is coming off his best outing of the season. He blanked the Colorado Rockies for 5 2/3 innings and didn’t issue a walk while striking out seven on Sunday.

Singer is set to make his 13th start of the season but only his fifth in a road game. He surrendered five or more runs in two of the previous road outings, though the Royals are 3-1 in the games he started outside of Kansas City.

Even with 78 career appearances, with 75 of those starts, spread across parts of four seasons, Singer has faced the Orioles just once. He lost to Baltimore on July 17, 2021, after giving up seven runs in two-plus innings at Kansas City.

The Orioles will bring left-hander Cole Irvin (0-2, 10.38) back from Triple-A Norfolk to pitch on Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to watching him start,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

Irvin struggled with the Orioles earlier this season. He made three starts in April, was sent back to Norfolk, then was recalled and used for just one-third of an inning out of the bullpen during his only major league appearance in May.

Irvin appreciates getting another chance.

“Part of my job is to be a pro and continue working no matter what level I’m at,” he said. “The expectation of us is, when your number is called is to be ready and take the ball.”

Baltimore has questions about its lineup, as first baseman Ryan Mountcastle missed the Friday game because of an illness.

“Just not feeling real good. (He) tried to play through it (Thursday),” Hyde said. “I could tell he wasn’t feeling well. He tried to battle through it and still was feeling sick.”

Mountcastle is slumping at the plate, as he is 4-for-30 (.133) with no homers and two RBIs over his past eight games.

Hays came through for the Orioles on Friday with a home run and double. He was in the leadoff spot for the 12th time this season.

Kansas City might have questions regarding its first baseman for Saturday as well. Vinnie Pasquantino left Friday’s game with discomfort in his right shoulder.

–Field Level Media

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ke’Bryan Hayes is a slick-fielding third baseman who has been a Gold Glove runner-up. Lately, his offense has been catching up, as the visiting New York Mets are discovering.

Even as every Pittsburgh starter had a hit in a 14-7 blowout of the Mets on Friday, Hayes stood out. He was 5-for-5, tying a career high for hits in a game, with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Hayes has an eight-game hitting streak, with two homers, three doubles and 11 RBIs. He has raised his batting average in that span from .216 to .266.

“Coming off that A’s series, and refueling on an off day (Thursday), we just wanted to be aggressive and swing the bats,” Hayes told AT&T Sportsnet.

The 26-year-old Hayes said he has been “just getting myself in a better position to hit the ball, then being aggressive and trusting my athleticism. At the end of the day, having more confidence.”

The Pirates ended a two-game losing streak, with both defeats coming in blowout fashion against the worst team in baseball, the Oakland Athletics.

The Mets had no such luck in erasing memories of recent games. Friday’s lopsided loss — they trailed 14-2 entering the ninth — extended their losing streak to a season-worst seven games.

New York was just swept by the Braves, and Mets manager Buck Showalter was asked if his team had a hangover effect.

“Looked like it,” Showalter said. “Didn’t pitch well, and that usually does a lot of it. And made (two) errors. It is what it is.”

The flavor of the games during the Mets’ losing streak has been all over the place, with them being outscored 51-31 in the eight games.

Both teams got discouraging injury news Friday.

Mets slugger Pete Alonso went on the 10-day injured list because of a bone bruise and sprain of his left wrist, where he got hit by a pitch Wednesday. He’s expected to be out three-to-four weeks, if not longer.

Things were even worse for Pittsburgh. Starter Vince Velasquez had season-ending elbow surgery after going on the injury list, trying to come back, and then going on the IL again.

On Saturday, New York right-hander Kodai Senga (5-3, 3.75 ERA) is expected to start opposite Pittsburgh right-hander Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.29).

Senga, who has never faced the Pirates, might be happy to get onto a different schedule.

His last time out, Sunday against Toronto, Senga was pitching on four days’ rest for the first time. He gave up four runs and four hits in 2 2/3 innings, with five walks and three strikeouts. He did not get a decision.

Senga, who pitched weekly in Japan, said through an interpreter that he felt fine physically, but “there were a lot of times when their lineup would be taking a lot of my off-speed offerings.”

Oviedo seemed headed to victory his last time out, on Monday against Oakland, after giving up three runs, two earned, in seven innings, but he ended up without a decision in a seesaw game won by the Athletics 5-4.

Against the Mets, Oviedo has taken some lumps. He is 0-2 with a 10.24 ERA in three career starts covering just 9 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

An accomplished front-end starter will go against a pitcher who has the ability to get there one day when the Philadelphia Phillies play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola (5-4, 4.30 ERA) will oppose against Dodgers rookie right-hander Bobby Miller (2-0, 1.06) when the teams meet in the middle game of a three-game series. The Phillies have won six straight games.

Philadelphia took the series opener 5-4 in dramatic fashion on Friday when Kyle Schwarber hit a game-ending home run with two outs in the ninth inning. Schwarber reached base four times, adding a triple and two walks in addition to his 17th homer.

Nola has been far from his best this season, one year after he went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA and had an major-league-best 8.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio while finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young Award race.

He is coming off a dominating start against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a three-run home run to Nick Maton following a walk and an error.

It was the fourth time Nola has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his career. He struck out 12, walked three and yielded just the three unearned runs on one hit in seven innings.

“I thought he was good all night,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Nola showed slightly improved velocity. “He lost the zone a couple of times, but I thought his stuff was really good. The velocity was good. The curveball was good — except the one to Maton. But I thought he was really good.”

Nola has pitched well in spurts this season, like his April 28 start against the Houston Astros when he looked more like his former self by giving up one run on three hits over eight innings. However, he followed that by allowing four runs in 6 1/3 innings on the road against the Dodgers in a no-decision on May 3. Philadelphia lost that game 10-6.

In eight career starts against the Dodgers, Nola is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.

Miller made his major league debut for the Dodgers on May 23 and has logged just three career starts. He has looked impressive in the early going, not allowing more than one run in any outing.

Miller is coming off a six-inning no-decision against the New York Yankees on Sunday when he did not allow a run, gave up just one hit and had seven strikeouts. Both of his walks came in the first inning on a day when he threw 86 pitches.

“How much do I want to push him in his (seventh) start this year?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, adding in Miller’s four starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City. “Knowing the fact that we’ve got a lot of baseball left, that played into the calculus.”

Blessed with a 100 mph fastball, Miller looks every bit the first-round draft pick he was, selected by the Dodgers in 2020.

“I felt great,” Miller said. “I definitely felt like I could’ve gone longer, but that first inning, get rid of those two walks and I’d be going into the seventh.”

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back home runs for the Dodgers in the seventh inning on Friday. Los Angeles has lost three of four games during the current road trip, with all three losses coming in walk-off fashion.

–Field Level Media

After appreciating his excellent big-league debut, the Cincinnati Reds will see what rookie pitcher Andrew Abbott can do for an encore.

Abbott (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will face the host Cardinals on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series. He threw six scoreless innings on one hit and four walks during a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

“It probably took him until the second or third to really settle in, and once he did that, he was really in command the rest of the game and used all his pitches,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Abbott threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced. He kept the Brewers off balance with a four-pitch mix, and he reached 95 mph with his fastball while striking out six batters.

“I felt really good, honestly, too,” Abbott said. “I had another day of rest because I was supposed to go Sunday (for Triple-A Louisville). Just seeing the crowd, taking it all in, stuff definitely gets your adrenaline pumping so you throw a little bit harder than normal.”

The Cardinals opened the series with a 7-4 victory Friday night for their second straight victory. The Reds lost their second straight game.

St. Louis will start Miles Mikolas (4-2, 3.74 ERA), who has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 straight starts and two earned runs or fewer in seven of them.

Mikolas took a 2-1 loss at Pittsburgh in his last start. He allowed the two runs on 10 hits in five innings but fell victim to his team’s recent power outage.

“Once we right the ship, we have to hope we’re not too far back,” Mikolas said. “Hate to rely on another 17-game winning streak to get into the playoffs. That’s always a possibility with players of this caliber. For the people out there getting upset — that’s understandable. I wouldn’t count us out.

“It’s time to see who wants it, who wants to step up and be a leader and start getting the job done.”

Mikolas won his previous start against the Reds 2-1 at Cincinnati on May 25. He blanked the Reds for seven innings on five hits while striking out five and walking nobody.

He is 4-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 17 career appearances against the Reds, including 15 starts.

The Reds adjusted their pitching staff for this series. They recalled Ricky Karcher and Joel Kuhnel from Triple-A Louisville, optioned Eduardo Salazar to Louisville, and put Graham Ashcraft (left calf contusion) on the 15-day injured list.

“I want to see how (Karcher) does here because he has major league stuff,” Bell said. “Sometimes certain players will step up at this level and just be better here.”

Cincinnati is also expected to activate outfielder TJ Friedl (left hamstring strain) in time for Saturday’s game.

The Cardinals activated outfielder Dylan Carlson from the injured list as expected Friday and optioned Juan Yepez to Triple-A Memphis. Carlson was 0-for-2 with two walks in the opener.

“Never a good time to get injured. Glad the process is over,” Carlson told Bally Sports Midwest. “It’s a long, tedious process. Just put that behind me, keep moving forward and get back to playing some baseball.”

–Field Level Media