140 in a year.On the field

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas got to celebrate twice on Saturday.The St. Louis right-hander was all smiles early in the afternoon when his twins Drew Smyly Jersey , Miles and Madelyn, were released from the hospital for the first time after being born prematurely a month ago.That good feeling continued hours later as Mikolas tossed six effective innings to push the St. Louis Cardinals into the second wild-card spot in the NL with a 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.“A special day,” Mikolas said.St. Louis moved a half-game ahead of Milwaukee and within four of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.The Cardinals, who are a half-game behind wild card-leading Philadelphia, have won 10 of their last 11 and captured their seventh straight series after winning the opener of the three-game set on Friday.“We’re surging and we’re dangerous,” Mikolas said. “This is the time of year to get hot.”The seven-series winning streak is the longest since the Cardinals won eight in a row from April 10-May 7, 2015.Travis Shaw and Christian Yelich homered for the Brewers, who have lost six of eight.Marcell Ozuna hit his 15th homer of the season in the second off Wade Miley (2-2).Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader added two-run hits as St. Louis improved to 21-10 under interim manager Mike Shildt http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-drew-storen-jersey , who took over after Mike Matheny was fired on July 14.When Shildt claimed the job, the Cardinals sat in fourth place in the wild-card standings, four games behind the second spot and 7 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago. They have made up plenty of ground in a relatively short amount of time.“This is nice,” Shildt said. “If we keep playing good baseball, the process will take care of itself.”Mikolas (13-3) gave up one run on five hits. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter in winning his fifth consecutive decision.He said he felt motivated by the progress made by his twins. His wife, Lauren, gave birth last month, with Mikolas returning early from the All-Star festivities.“I think it’s good to keep those happy thoughts in your head while you’re pitching Scott Feldman Jersey ,” Mikolas said. “It’s nice to have my family healthy and happy.”Mikolas lowered his ERA to 2.80.Miley surrendered four runs on four hits over five innings. Three of the runs were unearned thanks to a missed third strike by catcher Erik Kratz that prolonged a three-run third inning.“It’s my fault,” Miley said. “I crossed (Kratz) up on the fastball with two outs. He put down cutter and I thought I saw fastball.”Tyler O’Neill broke a 1-all tie with a bloop single to right following the passed ball by Kratz, which would have ended the inning. Following a walk to Ozuna, DeJong hit a two-run single to push the lead to 4-1.DeJong had two hits and drove in three runs.“We can beat you in a lot of different ways,” DeJong said. “That’s something we’re figuring out.”St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter had a 35-game streak of reaching base snapped with an 0-for-4 performance.Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell was ejected in the first inning by home plate umpire Cory Blaser. Blaser had warned Miley for throwing inside to O’Neill. Mikolas hit Lorenzo Cain in the top of the first.Counsell came out to argue the warning and was ejected for the fourth time this season.The Brewers have lost four of five.“We’ve kind of got our tails kicked the last couple nights,” Miley said. “Not to put a lot of pressure on us, but we’ve got to play better baseball.”St. Louis infielder Kolten Wong was removed in the fourth inning with a bruised right elbow. He was hit by a pickoff attempt from Miley. Shildt says he is day-to-day.TRAINER’S ROOMBrewers: OF Ryan Braun missed his second straight game with a sore rib cage. He is listed as day-to-day.Cardinals: OF Jose Martinez was originally in the starting lineup, but was scratched 90 minutes before the game with right hip tightness. He was replaced by O’Neill. … RHP Carlos Martinez will make his second rehab appearance on Sunday for Double-A Springfield. Martinez Eugenio Suarez Jersey , who was bothered by a right shoulder strain, threw two innings on Friday.UP NEXTRHP Jhoulys Chacin (12-4, 3.72) will face RHP John Gant (5-4, 3.74) in the final game of the three-game series on Sunday. The Brewers are 18-8 when Chacin starts. He is 0-2 with a 5.65 ERA in three career starts in St. Louis. Gant hit a two-run homer in his last outing, a 6-4 win over Washington on Tuesday. Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain was forced to leave Tuesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds with a rib cage injury.Adam McCalvy of MLB.com noted Cain was dealing with a "tight right ribcage" he exacerbated on a swing "several days ago." "I just thought he took some swings tonight in his second at-bat that didn't look good, so we took him out of the game," manager Craig Counsell said, per McCalvy. "We'll see how we're looking [Wednesday]. He's pretty adamant about wanting to play http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-jose-peraza-jersey , but we have to be careful with this thing, too."Cain already spent two weeks on the disabled list this season because of a groin injury, and durability has been a bit of a problem for him in his career.Although he played 155 games in 2017, he only averaged 123 games played in his previous four seasons with the Kansas City Royals, never topping 140 in a year.On the field, the 32-year-old remains an impact player in all phases of the game.In addition to playing great defense, Cain entered the day hitting .309 with 10 home runs as well as 28 stolen bases.This continued the impressive work we have seen with the Royals, which saw him post a .289 batting average over parts of seven seasons. He earned one All-Star selection Tucker Barnhart Jersey , was the 2014 ALCS MVP and won a World Series title in 2015.An extended absence from Cain would be a significant one for the Brewers, who are hoping to make a deep run in October. Christian Yelich can play center field in the meantime, but the lineup will suffer without its catalyst.