Contreras mashes very similar HR to younger bro's

NEW YORK -- Informed late Friday that brother William Contreras’ home run a night earlier for the Brewers had traveled approximately three feet further than his mammoth blast against the Mets, Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras playfully offered up a caveat that Statcast likely didn’t account for with its tale of the tape.

“That’s only because they have a smaller second deck here, and if that [facing] was back further, I’d say mine would have gone 450 [feet] and I would have beaten him,” Contreras said with seriousness before breaking into laughter. “Just kidding! I was happy I was able to make contact there and help put us out front.”

Contreras and close friend Alec Burleson teamed up to provide the struggling Cardinals offense with a big lift on Friday when their impressive home runs paved the way for St. Louis’ 4-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Burleson took advantage of some early wildness by Mets starter José Buttó by hitting a wayward changeup 412 feet for a three-run home run that gave the Cardinals an early lead. Burleson’s first home run of the season left the bat at 107.3 mph and landed beyond the right-center wall.

Given how adept Burleson is at putting the ball in play with his stellar hand-eye coordination, the Cardinals have been trying to get him to be more selective at the plate and only swing at pitches he can hit hard. He certainly did just that with his second-inning blast.

“A couple of nights ago, I had a conversation with [veteran slugger Matt Carpenter], and he laid out what he expected to see from me,” Burleson said. “Yeah, I’m comfortable putting the ball in play when I get two strikes, but being able to do damage on a pitch that I can handle is what I really want to do.”

An inning later, Contreras outdid his teammate with a 445-foot home run that ricocheted off Citi Field’s second deck and gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. The homer left Contreras’ bat at 114.2 mph -- easily his hardest-hit ball of the season.

Coincidentally, Contreras’ brother, William, hit a 448-foot homer that left the bat at 114.4 mph a day earlier in Pittsburgh for the Brewers. The Contreras brothers are extremely close, they talk almost every night over the phone and they worked on their skills together over the summer in their winter homes in Orlando, Fla. Instead of there being some sort of sibling rivalry, Willson said their brotherhood is more supportive and one where they drive each other to bring their best.

“It’s impressive watching my little brother doing great things and seeing him do it in MLB, it just makes me proud,” Willson said of William. “Really, I’m just trying to be like him now.”

Contreras has been the Cardinals’ most consistent and clutch hitter all season, exiting Friday’s game tied for the team lead in home runs with four while also batting .296. Making those exploits even more impressive is the fact that the veteran catcher has been playing in pain for weeks.

Contreras was hit on the back of his left hand by a pitch on April 3 and certain movements -- such as checking a swing or failing to catch a pitch in the pocket of his mitt -- cause pain to radiate through his hand and up his left arm. Even though he’s needed trainers to come out and massage the hand at various points, Contreras has refused to come out of games, and after missing a few games right after the injury, has since refused to come out of the lineup while the Cardinals have been struggling offensively.

“There’s tough and then there’s Willson,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “There’s no way he wants out of the lineup. It’s a specific spot on that hand that gets him, but outside of that, his hand has been good, and he refuses to come out of the lineup.

“I think that [toughness] is modeled -- when you look at [Paul Goldschmidt], [Nolan Arenado] and Willson, those guys refuse to come off the field. … That’s modeled throughout our team.”

To try and alleviate some of the pain in his hand, Contreras switched to a larger catcher’s mitt with a 36-inch circumference -- three inches larger than normal -- on Friday for the first time in his career. Contreras said the arrival of the mitt in New York on Friday morning was a welcomed sight and it helped him in catching starter Miles Mikolas and flame-throwing relievers JoJo Romero, Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley.

“I mean Willie is a bulldog and a pitbull for us,” said Mikolas, who limited the Mets to two runs over 5 2/3 innings. “He’s one of the toughest, hard-nosed guys I’ve ever played against and now someone who I have the pleasure of playing with on this team.”