Miles Mikolas stars as the Cardinals beat the Nationals 8-1

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 8-1 on Thursday night.

Willson Contreras homered and Alec Burleson drove in two runs as St. Louis won the rubber game in the three-game series. Brendan Donovan had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.

St. Louis (50-44) went 5-1 against Washington this year, winning the season series against the Nationals (38-55) for the first time since 2021.

Mikolas (5-6) struck out six and walked one in 5 2/3 innings. It was his first win since May 23.

Jacob Young drove in Washington's only run on a fielder's choice in the eighth.

Nationals right-hander Michael Soroka (3-7) worked four innings of two-run ball. He threw 91 pitches, 57 for strikes.

The Cardinals opened a 7-0 lead with five runs in the sixth. Nolan Arenado and Yohel Pozo each hit an RBI single, and Masyn Winn capped the big inning with a run-scoring double.

Contreras led off the seventh with his 12th homer, a 406-foot drive to center off Jackson Rutledge.

Mikolas surrendered a leadoff double to CJ Abrams and then retired 13 in a row. He went 0-4 with a 7.75 ERA in his previous seven starts.

Since June 1, the Cardinals are 13-3 when they score first.

Nationals LHP Mitchell Parker (5-9, 4.72 ERA) starts Friday in Milwaukee against Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (6-2, 3.59 ERA).

Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (6-6, 3.70 ERA) starts Friday against the visiting Braves and RHP Grant Holmes (4-8, 3.44 ERA).

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