Cardinals’ Mikolas Suspended Five Games for Intentionally Throwing at Batter

Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas has been suspended five games after he plunked Cubs outfielder Ian Happ on Thursday night, Major League Baseball Senior Vice President for On-Field Operations Michael Hill announced Friday.

Mikolas was also slapped with an undisclosed fine, while St. Louis manage Oliver Marmol was suspended one game and fined because of the incident.

The Cardinals ace plunked Happ after the outfielder struck Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras in the head with his bat on his backswing after swinging at an offering in the first inning. The follow-through hit resulted in Contreras being removed from the game.

Just two pitches later, Mikolas took issue with losing his batterymate and struck Happ with a fastball in the lower hip. After the umpires briefly huddled to discuss Mikolas’s actions, they decided to eject the Cardinals starter with just two outs away in the top of the first.

MLB announced that Mikolas has elected to appeal his suspension, while Marmol will serve his suspension Friday, missing the club’s second game of the four-game set against Chicago.