Jose Quintana will make his St. Louis debut Thursday when the Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs in a day-night doubleheader.
The Cardinals won the series opener at Busch Stadium 6-0 Tuesday night before Wednesday night’s game was rained out.
Miles Mikolas (8-8, 2.86 ERA) will take the mound in Game 1 and Quintana (3-5. 3.50) will start the nightcap for the Cardinals. The Cubs will counter with Marcus Stroman (3-5, 3.99) in Game 1 and a pitcher to be determined in Game 2.
Justin Steele, the Cubs’ scheduled starter for Wednesday, will get the call Friday. which Chicago plays Miami.
The Cardinals acquired Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade-deadline deal on Monday.
“You look at his peripherals, they definitely fit this team,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Bally Sports Midwest. “Obviously putting him on a team that hopes to win I think is something he’s really excited about.”
Quintana is looking forward to rejoining the postseason race.
“That’s the reason we play this game. It’s pretty cool to play in the playoffs,” Quintana said. “I’m really blessed to get this opportunity to come in here and I’m real excited. I’ve been (in the) playoffs a couple of times and I know how cool it is.”
In his prior start, Quintana threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the Pirates against Philadelphia on Friday. He allowed four hits and walked two batters while striking out four.
Quintana is 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA in three starts against the Cubs this season and 0-4 with a 3.40 ERA against them in seven career starts.
After Mikolas allowed six runs at Cincinnati on July 24, he bounced back with a quality start at Washington five days later. He held the Nationals to two runs on six hits in seven innings of a 6-2 victory.
Mikolas is 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts against the Cubs this season. In his last start against them, on June 25, he limited them to one run on four hits over six frames while striking out nine batters and walking only one.
In his career Mikolas is 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA in 13 appearances against the Cubs, including 11 starts.
Stroman allowed nine runs on 10 hits in four innings of a 14-5 loss in his previous outing against the Cardinals June 3, then landed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.
He came back to go 1-0 with a 0.89 ERA in four July starts. He allowed 16 hits in 20 1/3 innings during that span while striking out 17 batters and walking only six.
Stroman earned a 4-2 victory Friday over the Giants in San Francisco in his last start. He pitched six scoreless innings while allowing eight hits and one walk.
“Body feels good. Sinker’s doing everything I need it to do, and everything kind of plays off that,” Stroman said.
Cubs manager David Ross credited Stroman’s recent success on his excellent command.
“It’s consistent strikes, in and out, up and down,” Ross said. “It’s all quadrants all the time.”
Stroman has been in sync with catcher Willson Contreras, who wasn’t moved before the trade deadline.
“We’ve been on a roll lately, me and Willson,” Stroman said. “He’s been great.”
The Cubs added reliever Kervin Castro to their bullpen Wednesday after claiming him on waivers from the Giants.
–Field Level Media
