ST. LOUIS – Major League Baseball has suspended St. Louis starting pitcher Miles Mikolas for five games after hitting Cubs outfielder Ian Happ with a pitch deemed intentional by umpires.
Mikolas was ejected from Thursday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs after plunking Ian Happ with a pitch, just moments after an errant backswing from Happ hit Willson Contreras on top of his mask, led to sudden pain and forced him to leave early.
Umpires allege there was intent in Mikolas hitting Happ, leading to the ejection. It ended the St. Louis Cardinals veteran’s night after just 14 pitches and three batters faced Thursday in an eventual 10-3 loss. Mikolas, in postgame comments, didn’t necessarily agree with that assessment.
Mikolas intends to appeal the suspension, which was set to begin Friday night. Manager Oli Marmol was also suspended one game and fined as a result of Mikolas’ actions.