MIAMI — Miles Mikolas, who grew up 90 minutes to the north in Jupiter, Fla., had beaten the Miami Marlins twice in his first two starts against them for the Cardinals last year, holding them to two earned runs in 14 innings. As Mikolas took the mound Wednesday night, the Cardinals had beaten the Marlins 62 times in 97 meetings in Miami, the most dominant of any Miami opponent.
And what Miami offered up against the Cardinals was a 23-year-old Class AA call-up named Jordan Yamamoto, a Hawaii native who was replacing scheduled starter Jose Urena, who had a bad back.