St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas and manager Oliver Marmol were ejected with two outs in the top of the first inning after Mikolas hit Ian Happ of the visiting Chicago Cubs with a pitch.
The hit batsman came after Happ hit Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras in the head with his bat on an uncontrolled backswing on a swinging strike. Contreras had to leave the game and the Cardinals later said he would be day-to-day with a scalp laceration. Andrew Knizner replaced him at catcher.
After nearly hitting Happ with the next pitch, shoulder high, Mikolas hit Happ on the hip.
The umpires gathered, and crew chief Lance Barksdale ejected Mikolas. Marmol subsequently was tossed after continuing his protest over Mikolas’ ejection.
With Happ at first, the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger greeted new pitcher Dakota Hudson with a single. Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson drew walks to force in one run, and Christopher Morel hit a two-run double to make it 3-0.
Hudson then got an infield grounder to end the inning.
Knizner went on to homer twice in the game, but the Cubs rolled to a 10-3 win. Mikolas wound up charged with the loss.
–Field Level Media
