Miles Mikolas, who had sabotaged himself with opposition innings of three, four and four runs in his past three starts, found himself on the other side of it Friday night at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals righthander, after dispatching the San Diego Padres in order in the first inning, had a three-run lead the next time he went to the mound. He never relinquished it before coming out in the sixth as the Cardinals knocked off their sixth consecutive victory, 8-2, tying their season high for successive wins, before a paid house of 30,937.
The Cardinals pushed the Padres 1 ½ games behind them in the race for the second wild card in the National League while remaining one game ahead of Cincinnati, which beat Los Angeles.