Once it became apparent that Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, on the COVID injured list, could not start on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game set here with Baltimore, Cardinals Oliver Marmol had the option of using Miles Mikolas, his best starter this season, on regular four days’ rest because of an off day the Cardinals had on Monday.
Marmol took the “long-game” approach and elected to give Mikolas and the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest between starts this week so that dividends might accrue later in the season. The Cardinals used a succession of relievers unsuccessfully in a loss on Tuesday but Mikolas, strong as he could be, held the Orioles to four hits and one run over seven innings in a 10-1 victory on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.