The St. Louis Cardinals witnessed a rough chapter in team history on July 4th at Wrigley Field, as veteran pitcher Miles Mikolas suffered through one of the worst outings of his career in an 11-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs.
Mikolas gave up six home runs in the first three innings alone, tying a modern MLB record and setting a new Cardinals franchise mark for most homers allowed in a single game. He became just the sixth pitcher in the last 85 years to allow that many in one outing, joining the likes of Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, James Shields, Michael Blazek, and Matt Swarmer.
The 36-year-old righty was tagged for eight runs on 10 hits over six innings, striking out four without issuing a walk. His disastrous performance was only the 11th in MLB history in which a pitcher allowed six home runs, nearly doubling his season total of nine long balls entering the game. His ERA jumped from 4.76 to 5.26. Over his past seven starts, Mikolas is 0-4 with a 7.75 ERA, having surrendered 12 home runs in that span.
The Cubs also etched their own place in the record books, blasting a franchise-best eight home runs—six off Mikolas and two more off reliever John King. Michael Busch hit three, Pete Crow-Armstrong added two, and Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson, and Carson Kelly each homered as well. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Chicago became just the fifth team since 1956 to hit back-to-back home runs three times in a single game.
Mikolas’ struggles came just days after he attempted to motivate the team following a demoralizing three-game shutout sweep by the Pirates. Unfortunately, his motivational efforts didn’t translate into on-field success.
“I tried to fire the guys up on the bus ride back from Pittsburgh, but maybe I should’ve fired myself up more,” Mikolas said after the game. “It’s really disappointing. Fourth of July, Chicago—I was pumped for this start and really wanted to perform well. And I didn’t. I’ve got to own that.”
The loss added to a stretch of inconsistency for the Cardinals, who have had bright spots this season—like Sonny Gray’s one-hitter on June 27 and Erick Fedde’s shutout on May 9—but have struggled to maintain momentum.
Mikolas now holds a 4-6 record with a 5.26 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 60-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 87.1 innings this season.