Cubs turn Miles Mikolas into batting practice pitcher on Friday afternoon

Rodney Knuppel

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Cubs turn Miles Mikolas into batting practice pitcher on Friday afternoon image

The 4th of July provided plenty of fireworks for the sold-out crowd at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon. The bombs away fest went on despite the winds blowing too severe. The real issue was the meatballs from St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas.

The Chicago Cubs sent five of Mikolas pitches into the bleachers in the first three innings of the game en route to a 11-3 blowout win.  In all, Mikolas allowed six home runs in the game. It was the fourth straight win for the Cubs and fourth straight loss for St. Louis.

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Seiya Suzuki got the party started right away in the first inning. He clubbed his 24th home run to five Chicago a 1-0 lead. Pete Crow-Armstrong followed suit with one to make it 2-0 Chicago after one inning.

The bottom of the second inning was no better for Mikolas. Michael Busch hit his 15th of the season, and then Carson Kelly went deep for his 10th. It was 4-0 Chicago after two innings.

The third inning saw Crow-Armstrong do it again, this time to right Field for his 23rd. Then, Busch hit his second of the day and 16th of the season, a two-run shot, and it was 7-0 and the party was on at Wrigley.

Busch stayed hot in the fifth inning, along with Crow-Armstrong. After PCA singled and later moved up, Busch drove him home with a single to center field.

Dansby Swanson hit the sixth of the game for the Cubs to make the game 10-1 Chicago in the seventh. Then, it was Busch again. His third of the day, this time to center field to make it 11-1 Chicago.

Mikolas finished the game after six innings, allowing 10 hits and eight earned runs. He struck out four and walked 0. He is now 4-6 on the season, with an ERA of 5.26. Collin Rea picked up the win for the Cubs. He went 6.2 innings, and allowed just one hit, a Brendan Donovan homerun, to a Cardinals team that got swept in three games, and did not score a run in Pittsburgh before coming to Chicago.

To add insult to injury, position play Jon Berti picked up the final three outs on the mound for Chicago.

These two teams will get back together on Saturday, with Matthew Liberatore going for St. Louis. Chicago has yet to announce their starting pitcher following sending Jamison Taillon going on the 15-day injured list with a right calf strain.

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Rodney Knuppel

Rodney Knuppel is a freelance writer for The Sporting News. When not watching, listening or writing about sports, Rodney enjoys following the travels of his three kids, who are all active in their own sports and activities. A huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, Rodney also enjoys St. Louis Blues hockey and is a big Kansas Jayhawks basketball fan.