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鈥淗e told me before, 鈥業t鈥檚 how good you are on your worst day,鈥欌�� Mikolas said.

Mikolas paused.

鈥淥n my worst day I stink right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oday wasn鈥檛 a good day. I鈥檝e had some other bad ones. And a lot of it comes down to that one pitch, missing a spot with guys on base, or throwing the wrong pitch, maybe reading a swing wrong. It鈥檚 tough. Durability is one of the five great abilities, but that doesn鈥檛 mean much if it鈥檚 not conducive to winning.鈥�

Before Tuesday鈥檚 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers got worse for them in a 12-6 loss, the Cardinals moved quickly to stay in it by removing Mikolas from it.

The right-hander allowed three homers and five runs total to the first 14 batters he faced. He threw his 50th pitch before collecting his seventh out, so he had innings where he was inefficient and at-bats when his pitches were ineffective. Max Muncy saw three pitches total from Mikolas, took two swings, and hit two home runs to give LA three of its five early runs. Mikolas retired the final two batters of the third inning to escape with the Cardinals trailing by the three runs he allowed in that inning 鈥� and that was it. That was his evening. Mikolas鈥� start ended after three innings and 67 pitches as the Cardinals rushed to their bullpen to keep the score close enough for a rally that arrived too late.

For the sixth time in 22 starts Mikolas allowed at least five runs, but only for the second time this season did he pitch fewer than four innings. After shaving his ERA down from 5.20 with consecutive solid starts, it bloated back to 5.11 after Tuesday鈥檚.

鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating taking one step forward,鈥� Mikolas said, 鈥渁nd two steps back.鈥�

The only established Cardinal with an expiring contract who is still on the roster after the trade deadline, Mikolas finds himself the seasoned starter for a team turning more and more toward youth.

The Cardinals are making decisions like they鈥檙e moving on and into 2026.

Mikolas, a pending free agent, is eager for starts to generate interest in him for 2026.

鈥淚 want to finish strong,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淎nd I want to do my best to be a good example for the young guys. There are some young guys in here who I鈥檝e seen from their rookie years, seen them mature and get better. Hopefully, I鈥檝e left a little bit of an imprint on them. Show the younger guys what it鈥檚 like to go about your work 鈥� day in, day out, rain or shine. I鈥檒l be in here tomorrow working out, busting my tail in the gym, getting my work done with the trainers, watching video, trying to get better. Bottom line: I want to finish strong and show teams that I鈥檝e still got a lot of good baseball left in me.鈥�

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was asked late Tuesday night in his office at Dodger Stadium what the team sought from veterans like Willson Contreras, who homered and reached base three times Tuesday, and Mikolas.

鈥淪erve as a little bit of a sounding board and leadership for when things don鈥檛 go well,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭hose guys have been in situations where they鈥檝e been really good and when things don鈥檛 go their way they can speak to it. Sometimes when you鈥檙e young and you鈥檙e going through a little bit of it 鈥� even today, Fern (Ryan Fernandez) or (Andre) Granillo 鈥� having someone come up and be like, 鈥楤een there. Wake up tomorrow and it will be OK.鈥� That鈥檚 helpful. Sometimes it鈥檚 encouraging more than anything.鈥�

The only time the Cardinals kept the MVPs at the top of the Dodgers鈥� lineup from scoring was in the fourth and fifth innings when rookie Matt Svanson was on the mound.

Otherwise, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts each doubled and scored off Mikolas. They each walked and scored off Fernandez in the seventh. They both singled and scored off Granillo in the eighth. Ohtani and Betts combined to score six of the Dodgers鈥� dozen runs, and No. 3 hitter Freddie Freeman had two sacrifice flies. Fernandez and Granillo combined to allow seven runs in their two innings of work. As Marmol described, they had a veteran nearby who could empathize.

Mikolas had been there.

A few innings earlier.

鈥淭hat is a lineup you can鈥檛 make a lot of mistakes too, and I made a few too many mistakes there and got into some trouble early,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淎nd a lineup like that, if you鈥檙e in trouble, it鈥檚 hard to get out of it.鈥�

Coming out of the All-Star break, Mikolas adjusted his delivery to make it more compact and direct, and the result was an increase in pitch velocity. During the Cardinals鈥� recent home stand, the zip helped Mikolas pitch five scoreless innings against the Padres and follow that outing with a quality start against Miami. The velocity was there Tuesday as well. The average on his pitches was up at least 1 mph, and his fastball cooked at an average of 94.1 mph, up 1.5 mph from his season average.

He touched 95.3 mph with his four-seam fastball and 95.1 mph with sinker 鈥� speeds that are throwbacks for the right-hander who turns 37 this month.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a big difference between 91-92 mph and being 94-96 mph,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淗elps all of the breaking stuff. Didn鈥檛 make much of a difference today. Some of it may come down to the pitch selection, reading the swings, or just what I do to get to two strikes.鈥�

The trouble Tuesday came in twos for Mikolas. Freeman鈥檚 sacrifice fly and Muncy鈥檚 first home run came on consecutive pitches for LA鈥檚 2-0 lead in the first inning. In the third, Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez hit home runs in consecutive at-bats to shatter a 2-2 tie and seize a 5-2 lead. The runs off back-to-back pitches in the first and runs off back-to-back homers in the third were all the production against Mikolas in his three innings.

The pitches that caused the noise were too much over the plate.

鈥淭hey were,鈥� Marmol said, 鈥渁nd they didn鈥檛 miss.鈥�

In the final season of a three-year, $56-million extension with the Cardinals, Mikolas is 6-9 with reduced innings due to a change in how he鈥檚 been used. An All-Star in two seasons and an innings-eating workhorse in all of his healthy seasons, Mikolas has been used in shorter starts this season to avoid a third time through the opponent鈥檚 lineup or runaway games like Tuesday鈥檚. In the past three seasons, Mikolas has made 89 starts, and while 35 of them have been quality starts, he has an overall ERA of 5.06. This season the runs seem to come in gulps.

He鈥檚 had five starts without allowing a run, and he鈥檚 had seven starts of one or fewer runs. He鈥檚 also had four when he allows six or more.

Mikolas said he and the coaches have been scouring those starts to identify the differences. It could be the nature of being a contact pitcher in the modern game, or it could be something they鈥檝e yet to identify 鈥� and maybe another team, his next team will.

鈥淚 know teams look beyond that,鈥� he said of the ERA and rollercoaster results. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l look at everything. Teams are going to sign you after they go back and look at all of your starts and go, 鈥榃hat was the difference? Can we fix him? Can we help him? Can we do this? Can we do that?鈥� If my stuff is good 鈥� and the ball is coming out of my hand good 鈥� and I鈥檓 available wire to wire, that鈥檚 something. That鈥檚 something I take a lot of pride in.鈥�

And that is why he said late Tuesday he wants to continue pitching.

Mikolas will finish this season one year shy of a full 10 seasons in the majors. He鈥檒l have spent the past eight with the Cardinals. He twice signed an extension to stay with the club that brought him back to the majors from Japan鈥檚 highest league and allowed him to spend spring training in his hometown of Jupiter, Florida. The loss Tuesday night moved him to 66-67 as a Cardinal.

鈥淚鈥檒l play as long as I can,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淭he ball is still coming out of my hand pretty good for being almost 37. I鈥檒l play as long as they let me.鈥�