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JUPITER lex Reyes Jersey , Fla. (AP) —y starter, Miles Mikolas agreed to stay in St. Louis much longer.St. Louis and the All-Star right-hander agreed to a $68 million, four-year contract covering 2020-23, a deal announced Tuesday that raises his pay to $75.5 million over the next five seasons.“Going forward in my baseball career there isn’t a team that I can see myself as a better fit and no team that I’d rather see myself playing for than the St. Louis Cardinals,” Mikolas said.St. Louis made the announcement at the Cardinals spring training facility, a few miles from where Mikolas played his high school baseball. Growing up he attended many St. Louis spring training games.The 30-year-old is getting $7.5 million this year as part of a contract he signed before the 2018 season. He would have been eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.He gets a $5 million signing bonus, of which $1 million is payable within 30 days of the contact’s approval by the commissioner’s office and $1 million each Jan. 15 from 2020-23. He gets $15.75 million salaries annually from 2020-23, and if he pitches 200 innings this year his pay under the new deal would increase by $500,000 each season.Mikolas returned from three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan’s Central League and tied for the NL lead in wins, going 18-4 with a 2.83 ERA.“Clearly, how Miles pitched last year, he ended up being the anchor of our rotation,” St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “I think when you combine his skill with his leadership and really his ability to help mentor young players it just seemed like as we looked to the future he was that natural person to take that next step to carry that for the St. Louis Cardinals.”If Mikolas’ 2019 performance is similar to what he did last year, he likely would have received far more as a free agent next offseason. Free agent pitcher Patrick Corbin received a $140 million, six-year contract from Washington as a free agent this offseason.A seventh-round selection by San Diego in the 2009 amateur draft, Mikolas pitched in relief for the Padres in parts of the 2012 and 2013 before being traded to Pittsburgh and then Texas. When the Rangers released Mikolas following the 2014 seasons he headed to Japan.“That was a leap saying, hey, I’m going to go there and I’m going to be the best Japanese baseball player I can be and see where that leads me.” Mikolas said.He went 31-13 record with a 2.18 ERA for the Giants Evan Longoria Jersey , then signed a two-year deal with St. Louis that guaranteed $15.5 million and includes an escalator for innings that boosted this year’s salary by $1 million.“He fits in so well with our team,” St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright said. “His mentality is perfect for starting pitching, perfect for the grind of an entire long season. Keeps things light in the clubhouse, very focused on the mound. He’s all you can ask for from a teammate.”Mikolas only walked 29 in 200 2/3 innings last season while striking out 146.“I think he hasn’t really learned how to be a strikeout pitcher yet,” Wainwright said. “He’s such a strike thrower that it’s almost hard for him to get it out of the zone. What a great problem that is to have, right?” The Dodgers are 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and have stranded 11 runners on base. Trailing the Red Sox 2-0, LA will need the offense to step up if they have any hopes of winning their first World Series in 30 years."The Dodgers trail the Red Sox in the World Series 2-0. After two underwhelming performances, the Dodgers will head to Los Angeles, where they’ll look to begin their quest for four wins in five games. Through two games, LA has managed to plate six runs. When you’re going up against the best offense in baseball, six runs might not even be enough in one game. On Wednesday, the Dodgers only scored two runs on three hits, and were held without a hit for the final 5 1鈦? innings. In the series, the Dodgers are 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. 11 runners have been stranded on base. The opportunities have been there, they’ve just failed to capitalize. The Red Sox on the other hand, have taken advantage of seemingly every opportunity given to them. They’re 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position, with most of their damage coming with two outs. In the 2018 postseason, Boston has scored more than half of their runs with two outs. The problem for LA isn’t necessarily getting runners on base Dustin McGowan Jersey , it’s finding different ways to bring them in. In Game 1, the Dodgers were able to string together three consecutive hits in the third inning, tying the game at two apiece. With only one out, runners stood at first and second. Chris Taylor struck out, followed by a groundout from Matt Kemp. It’s situations like these in which you need to capitalize on the opportunities handed to you. Transition into the fifth. The Dodgers have first and second with nobody out. After a David Freese strikeout, Manny Machado stepped to the plate. A wild-pitch would advance the runners to second and third with one out. Machado grounded out, bringing in the tying run. Yes, a groundout was great because it tied the game, but that was not the at-bat the Dodgers needed. In July, the Dodgers acquired Machado for this very reason, his bat in the World Series. With a chance to give LA a lead, he delivered a tie but that ball would’ve ended the inning if not for the wild pitch. The Dodgers needed a big hit there and they didn’t get it from Machado or Cody Bellinger, who would fly out to end the inning.The Dodgers did their job by chasing Chris Sale after only four innings of work. Unfortunately, they couldn’t exploit the Red Sox bullpen. Yet again, the Dodgers had a golden opportunity when they loaded the bases in the seventh, giving Machado another chance to do some damage. He brought in a run on a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to one run. But yet again, it was not the at-bat the Dodgers needed. Prior to Machado http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , two of the three previous batters had at least three balls in their count, with Yasmani Grandal reaching on a walk. Ryan Brasier had allowed two singles and a walk, and was struggling to find command. Yet, on the first pitch, Machado swung at a 96-mph fastball, and flied out. You can’t really knock Machado for driving in a run, but in such a crucial at-bat, you would have liked him to at least try and see some pitches, and hope for a better result. A base-hit from Machado likely brings in two, ties the game, and puts the Dodgers in a prime opportunity to take the lead. Bellinger had another opportunity but flew out to center to end the inning. Switching things over to game 2. It looked as if LA was ready to blow things wide open in the fourth inning. They had the bases loaded with nobody out. On the first pitch, Kemp flied to center, bringing in a run to tie the game at one a piece. Kik Hernandez followed with a solid nine-pitch-at-bat, but ultimately struck out. Things looked to be turning in the Dodgers’ favor, as Yasiel Puig brought in one with an RBI single. Scoring two runs and taking the lead, it was already a successful inning for the Dodgers. Though, with the Red Sox offense looming, two runs likely wouldn’t cut it for the game. With runners on first and third Adeiny Hechavarria Jersey , LA was in a prime opportunity to tack on some more runs. Austin Barnes stepped up, and struck out on three pitches. For the Dodgers, they wouldn’t have a base runner the rest of the game and have now stranded 87 runners in the playoffs overall.It’s easy to blame big hitters for not breaking tha game wide open but a sizable amount of blame belongs to the bottom half of the order as well. Hitters five through nine in the Dodgers’ order are 2-for-34 in the first two games.Hernadez is 0-for-6 in the World Series and 3-for-32 for the 2018 postseason. The Dodgers didn’thave a hit from center field or second base in Boston.The tough pill to swallow is the fact that the Dodgers could have taken either one of these games, possibly both. The opportunities have been there for the taking, the Dodgers just haven’t stepped up to the task. With the series heading to Los Angeles, the series is far from over. Boston still has to win two more games, and they will be without their best starting pitcher until game 5, giving the Dodgers the perfect chance to get back into the series. As we’ve seen all postseason, the Dodgers have no problem getting runners on base. However, if they have any hopes of coming back, and delivering the city of Los Angeles their first World Series in 30 years, this Dodgers team will need to step up, and show they are a championship caliber team.