ST. LOUIS — Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina made their 324th career start Thursday, tying the major league mark set by Detroit’s Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan from 1963-1975.
Molina homered twice in the game, which the Cardinals lost 11-6 to the Washington Nationals. Wainwright got a no-decision, allowing four runs and nine hits in five innings.
The 41-year-old Wainwright and 40-year-old Molina got a standing ovation from the crowd of 40,437 as they made their way in from the bullpen moments before the first pitch, and another after the top of the first inning. Wainwright and Molina are on track to break the record at home against Milwaukee on Sept. 14.
Wainwright and Molina are scheduled to set the record at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 14.
“Just to do it with him and we’re going to do it here at Busch, it’s going to be special for us,” Molina said.
Wainwright said “it’s been a good run.”
“He’s an incredible teammate, friend, and partner in crime. We’ve been together for a long time. So, you know, we got to finish strong,” he said.
Molina hit a two-run homer into the third deck in left field in the third and a solo shot just over the wall in the fourth. It was the ninth career multihomer game for Molina and his first since April 17, 2021, at Philadelphia.
“We’re in a good position, we’re having fun,” Molina said.
This was the second-straight subpar start for Wainwright, who said his mechanics were off.
“The timing of the upper and lower half are just totally off,” Wainwright said. “So throwing a lot of middle pitches, throwing a lot of pitches a foot outside you can’t swing at, falling behind way too many accounts. ”
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has confidence that Wainwright will make the necessary adjustments quickly.
“I just sat down with our pitching guys and walked through it,” Marmol said. “We’ll address it in his next pen and go from there, but we’re in a good spot.”
The duo made their first start together on April 6, 2007, at Houston. Wainwright notched his first of 212 wins as a starter with Molina as his catcher, which is a major league record for batterymates.
Molina will retire at the end of the season, but Wainwright has not publicly announced a decision on his plans for 2023.
Molina debuted in 2004. Wainwright broke into the majors in 2005, but was used mostly as a reliever his first two seasons.
Notably, Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltrán to clinch the 2006 NLCS and Brandon Inge to clinch the 2006 World Series, both with Molina behind the plate.
Wainwright and Molina have 13 total All-Star Game appearances between them. The Cardinals have reached the postseason in 11 of the 17 seasons that the two have been on the roster.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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