Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas committed blatant offensive interference and got away with it. (Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)
Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas committed blatant offensive interference and got away with it. (Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

WATCH: Cardinals player gets away with blatant offensive interference


by - Senior Writer -

ST. LOUIS — A controversial no-call went the St. Louis Cardinals' way on Wednesday night, but, in the end, it did not cost the Chicago Cubs. During the bottom of the third inning at Busch Stadium, Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas got away with offensive interference on a play at first base.

With a runner on second and no outs, Mikolas poked a dribbler that Cubs shortstop Javier Baez fielded on the run before firing an off-mark throw to David Bote, who was covering first base. Even though Baez's throw, which was ultimately ruled an error that enabled the lead runner to take third, was not on target, Bote was impeded with while attempting to catch it.

Although it was hard to tell in real time, replays clearly showed Mikolas intentionally swiping at Bote's glove while running up the baseline in order to prevent Bote from reaching out to his side and snagging Baez's wide throw. The umpires did not see the interference take place, and, despite Cubs manager Joe Maddon's protests, the ruling stood because the play was not reviewable.

St. Louis did not reap any benefits from Mikolas' gamesmanship, though, as the Cardinals squandered the scoring opportunity. After having men on first and third with no outs, the Cardinals failed to hit the ball out of the infield and ultimately failed to push any runs across in the inning.

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