Another solid relief outing, together with a balanced offense, powered Sunday’s 10-1 win over Seattle.
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After veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas signed with the Washington Nationals this offseason, he told them he was willing to pitch whenever, wherever. The 37-year-old has maintained that attitude, even as the team has regularly used him behind an opener for the first time in his career.
When Manager Blake Butera told him the Nationals were going to stick with this tactic Sunday even as Mikolas has shown signs of progress, he still didn’t waver. The move paid off: After PJ Poulin allowed one run in the first inning, Mikolas followed with seven scoreless innings as the Nationals beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-1.
“That was an unbelievable performance from him,” Butera said. “Man, it was just unbelievable stuff.”
After Seattle took the opener Friday, Washington won back-to-back games to take the series at Nationals Park. The Nationals are 8-1-1 in their past 10 series and are two games above .500.
While Mikolas was on cruise control, his offense provided him with more than enough support. James Wood led off the first inning with his 20th homer of the year, and an aggressive five-run fourth — at one point, the Nationals swung at four straight first pitches and reached base each time — made it 6-1.
Washington added on with a Keibert Ruiz solo shot in the seventh, and Jacob Young, Wood and Dylan Crews drove in runs in the eighth. Every player in the lineup recorded at least one hit, with Wood and Ruiz leading the way with three each.
“Our lineup one through nine today, I thought, did a really good job of contributing, especially in that fourth inning, but the entire game,” Butera said. “Just kept passing the bat back to the next guy. The base running was really good. We put a ton of pressure on them defensively. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
As with many of his teammates, the changes Mikolas has made date from his first meeting with the Nationals’ new coaching staff. But, unlike most of the roster, Mikolas was a free agent at the time, searching for a team that would take an aging, contact-oriented pitcher who put up a 4.84 ERA last season with the St. Louis Cardinals.
On a Zoom call with Mikolas, Washington pitching coach Simon Mathews presented a list of ideas for how the team could get more out of him. Mikolas showed a giddiness over the proposed improvements, Butera recalled, and Mikolas signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. He had an 8.23 ERA at the end of April, a month that included a start where he allowed a franchise-high 11 runs.
While he was frustrated, Mikolas’s attitude, Butera said, never wavered. The righty has embraced the changes the Nationals have asked him to make.
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“I never expected somebody with what he’s done in the game, the amount of time he’s had in the game, the amount of success he’s had in the game, to be willing to be open to new suggestions, new ideas, new roles he’s been put in,” Butera said.
It makes it easier to do so, too, when Mikolas has seen the results. Over his past six outings — all behind an opener — he has pitched to a 3.38 ERA.
Mikolas has picked up his tempo as of late, which helps him keep his body in sync. He’s sitting on his backside more, letting everything work around his head, so he’s more balanced.
Plus, he has changed up his strength and training routines so he’s fresher when he takes the mound. He’s lifting heavy only once a week after his bullpen session, so all the strain comes on one day. He spends the rest of the five-day cycle focused on rest, recovery and flexibility.
All of this has helped him reach velocities with his four-seam fastball and sinker that he hasn’t touched in four years. Last season, he threw only 20 pitches over 95 mph. On Sunday alone, he had 12, including a 97.1-mph four-seamer — his hardest of the season — to Jhonny Pereda in the second inning.
“They are very knowledgeable here, and I’ve been very pleased and very happy with how everything’s gone,” he said. “I wish the numbers felt a little bit better, but hopefully with how my stuff’s been feeling, I can get on a nice little run here and have some nice outings.”
On Sunday, Mikolas allowed just three hits and walked none. The Mariners put 20 balls in play, but just four of them were hard-hit. He got ahead of hitters and attacked the zone, performing so well that Butera said he just put his hands up and watched Mikolas do his thing.
Mikolas was at 83 pitches after the eighth inning, and he wanted to finish the game. With the Nationals holding a 10-1 lead, Butera considered it, even pondering whether he should at least let Mikolas get one out so he could get an ovation from the crowd. He opted instead to have Clayton Beeter finish the game, because, Butera said, Beeter needed to get the work in.
Mikolas, of course, didn’t mind. The team got the win, and that, at the end of the day, was the most important part.
“I’m willing to take the ball whenever they give it to me for as long as they let me have it,” Mikolas said. “When they say that I’m done, I’m done.”
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