Cards' Miles Mikolas bids for bounce-back effort vs. Phillies

St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas wants to take a clear mind to the mound when he faces the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon.

Mikolas (0-1, 11.25 ERA) allowed nine runs (eight earned) on 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings in an 18-7 loss at Boston in his last start on Sunday.

"I made some good pitches. I made some bad pitches. It didn't seem to matter," Mikolas said. "They've got some hot bats over there. Sometimes there's not much you can do. Hope I don't have any more of these.

"This is one I'm probably just going to forget about completely. Toss it aside. Wake up, start getting ready for my next start. Hakuna matata. Keep on rolling."

Mikolas will return to the mound for the middle contest of a three-game set with the Phillies. The Cardinals won the opener 2-0 on Friday night.

Mikolas' struggle against the Red Sox was of stark contrast to his first start, when he held the Los Angeles Angels to two runs on two hits in 5 1/3 innings on March 31. Mikolas didn't get a decision, but the Cardinals lost 5-4 in 10 innings.

In his career against the Phillies, Mikolas is 2-4 with a 4.29 ERA in nine appearances, including eight starts.

The Phillies will counter with left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (0-0, 4.09 ERA).

Sanchez has struck out 16 and walked only three in 11 innings this season, but he has allowed three home runs.

The Phillies have won both of Sanchez's starts. He allowed four runs on six hits -- two of them homers -- in 5 2/3 innings in his last start -- an 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

Sanchez is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in two career outings against the Cardinals, including one start.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson shuffled his batting order this week, seeking more production in the middle. He dropped struggling third baseman Alec Bohm into the No. 7 slot Thursday, only to see him go 0-for-5.

"As long as he's putting good at-bats together and hitting the ball hard, he's going to be fine," Thomson said of Bohm, who is in a 4-for-43 slump. "He's hit into a lot of tough luck, too, along the way. But he's really played well defensively."

Nick Castellanos replaced Bohm as the cleanup hitter on Thursday and struck out all five times. Then Thomson moved Kyle Schwarber into the cleanup spot behind Bryce Harper on Friday, sliding Castellanos down to No. 5 and leaving Bohm at No. 7.

"Just trying to protect Harp as best we can," Thomson said.

Schwarber had been batting in the lead-off position this season. Bryson Stott moved up to replace him atop the order on Friday.

The changes didn't work; the Phillies mustered just three hits with the new order Friday, and Bohm went 0-for-3.

Slumping Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras could return to the lineup Saturday after sitting out the series opener.

Contreras went 5-for-49 with 22 strikeouts in his first 12 games after batting .405 in spring training.

"I feel like, in my head, in my mind, I'm in a good place," Contreras said. "I'm not overthinking or doubting myself, to be honest. ... I'll be OK."

Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn is doubtful for Saturday's game after exiting the series opener with back spasms.

"It grabbed him pretty good," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said, "I'll have a better understanding (later) of what we're looking at, if it's just a couple days or more than that."

--Field Level Media