His fellow Cardinals starters have set a high bar for Miles Mikolas in recent days.

Mikolas starts at 12:35 p.m. (St. Louis time) Sunday as the Cardinals shoot for a sweep in the finale of a three-game set in Washington.

St. Louis held off Washington 4-2 on Saturday.

In four starts since Mikolas last took the mound, Cardinals starters have a 0.89 ERA and have gone at least seven innings in each.

The right-hander Miles Mikolas (1-2, 4.76) has been much improved since an ugly loss at Boston in early April. In his last five starts, he has a 2.77 ERA, averaging a touch more than five innings per outing.

People are also reading…

Pope Leo XIV in St. Louis: ‘Bob’ Prevost started his papal journey here

Ex-St. Louis mayor Tishaura Jones blasts voters for turning on Black women

Homeowners could end up paying in fight between McBride Homes, Chesterfield contractor

In win for Josh Hawley, Trump names four to long-vacant federal judgeships in St. Louis

Boy shot, killed near Ferguson was a football star. Dad charged in shooting.

Missouri veteran was missing for years. Then cops found a trash can in a shed

Hochman: There’s pain. Then there’s the Blues losing a Game 7 lead with 2.2 seconds left.

Senior prank at Normandy High damages school property, may lead to charges

8 must-try new St. Louis restaurants from our critic’s weekly newsletter

A merger of St. Louis and St. Louis County gets a fresh look, and plenty of opposition

Meet the 2025 Post-Dispatch Scholar Athletes

Cops find 3 bodies at north St. Louis house, kill suspect in shootout

Blues come 2.2 seconds short of Game 7 win, fall to Winnipeg in double overtime 4-3

School bus driver punches 2 students, holds one face down in Florissant, police say

Blues’ Dylan Holloway, Tyler Tucker were out for season; GM thinks Torey Krug done playing

Opponents are hitting .216 against Mikolas in that span, down from .281 last year over the full season.

The batting average against Mikolas’ slider is down to .234 in 2025 from .301 a year ago.

Left-hander MacKenzie Gore (2-3, 3.33) will take the hill for Washington.

He has a 10.05 ERA in three starts against St. Louis, his worst vs. any team that he’s thrown more than 10 innings against.

In one start in 2023 and two last season, Gore has given up either five or six earned runs in each game vs. St. Louis.

The Cardinals are 21-19 and have won seven straight, their longest streak since 2022. They trail Chicago by two games in the National League Central.

Washington is 17-23 and has lost four straight.

How to watch Cardinals at Nationals

When: 12:35 p.m. (St. Louis time) Sunday

Where: Nationals Park in Washington

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest (live stream link); KMOX (1120 AM and 104.1 FM), other stations in the Cardinals Radio Network as well as MLB.tv.

Your options to watch: Input your ZIP code and see your choices for watching Cardinals games.

Lineups

Lars Nootbaar, LFMasyn Winn, SSBrendan Donovan, 2BNolan Arenado, 3BWillson Contreras, 1BIván Herrera, DHYohel Pozo, CJordan Walker, RFVictor Scott II, CF

Injury report

Zack Thompson, LHP (lat strain): Lefty is going through strengthening exercises and the early stages of a throwing program. Thus far, he’s not had any setbacks that would cause alarm about the area around his shoulder or elbow. On April 7, Thompson was transferred to the 60-day IL. Updated May 9


Inside key improvements that delivered decisive inning and Cardinals’ 7th consecutive win


Jordan Walker looks 'back in time' to find swing that launches his future: Cardinals Extra


Cardinals run winning streak to magnificent 7 as Andre Pallante conjures another stingy start


Why carrying three catchers means assuring ABs for Ivan Herrera at DH: Cardinals Extra


Cardinals starter Erick Fedde ‘searched’ years for a shutout. How he found it going home

Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter