Brandon Belt suffers broken thumb after being hit by a pitch

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Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was hit in the hand with a pitch from Dodgers starter Paul Maholm leading off the top of the second inning on Friday night. Belt stayed in to run the bases, but did not take his position in the bottom half of the inning. Instead, Joaquin Arias took his spot at first base while Belt was attended to in the clubhouse.

Bad news for the Giants: CSN Bay Area’s Andrew Baggarly reports that Belt has a broken thumb and will “undoubtedly” go on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Baggarly adds that an easy short-term roster solution would involve Belt going on the DL and Matt Cain coming off of it, but the Giants will want to address their first base situation regardless, which could mean Travis Ishikawa could come up from Triple-A Fresno.

Belt entered the game as one of the Giants’ most productive hitters, slashing .264/.312/.504 with nine home runs and 18 RBI.

Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year, $55.75M deal

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Rhona Wise/USA TODAY Sports
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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.