HRs by Carlson (1st), Bader (again) lift Cards

ST. LOUIS -- When Dylan Carlson rounded the bases after his first Major League home run in Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Reds at Busch Stadium, the longest-tenured Cardinal who had just matched some personal history was standing there waiting for him.

Carlson crossed home plate and high-fived Yadier Molina, who was on base for Carlson’s two-run shot after his fourth base hit of the game, matching a career-high mark that Molina has reached 19 times. As Molina climbs the Cardinals' record book and puts the finishing touches on his career, Carlson is just beginning.

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“That’s unbelievable,” Carlson said. “It’s a moment I’ll always remember -- and for Yadi to be there, of all people, that’s a pretty special moment.”

Since he was promoted last week, Carlson has been searching for results. Entering Sunday, he was hitting .114 (4-for-35) across 11 games. His batting average masks how several of his hardest hits have gone for outs, and he’s also hit into some savvy defensive positioning, too.

Still, Carlson had struck out 10 times in 35 at-bats. Pitchers have thrown him more offspeed and breaking stuff than might typically be thrown to a rookie, a trend he began to see in the Minor Leagues, though he didn’t know if it would continue in the Majors. According to Statcast, entering Sunday, Carlson has seen the lowest fastball (four-seam, two-seam and sinkers) percentage (27.7 percent) in the Majors among batters to see at least 100 pitches.

But the Cardinals have been impressed with how he’s handled that trend in his first week here.

“Just a very steady guy that’s got a nice approach, doesn’t try to do too much, letting the game come to him,” manager Mike Shildt said. “For a young guy, it’s impressive what he’s doing and how he’s been able to handle some balls being hit at people and not getting the results and not overreacting and just staying within himself and stay within the process.”

Carlson finished Sunday 2-for-4 with his home run on a hanging slider from reliever Nate Jones that landed in the St. Louis bullpen for safekeeping.

“It’s just been a lot of learning, a lot of trusting and just sticking to the process and grinding,” Carlson said. “Just understanding that it’s a process, not trying to rush everything and do everything right away. Just believe in myself. Guys on the team have been preaching to me that it’s a process and it’s coming.”

Carlson punctuated what Harrison Bader started in the second inning. Down two after Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez’s two-run homer off starter Daniel Ponce de Leon -- who tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing four walks while striking out two -- in the first inning, Bader answered with a two-run shot of his own after Carlson reached base on a fielder’s choice.

It was Bader’s second home run in as many games. Like Carlson, Bader has also seen fewer fastballs -- 36.6 percent of all the pitches he had seen entering Sunday -- as pitchers figure out how to pitch him, and he’s had to adjust. And as the Cardinals figure out the best outfield alignment, swapping out center fielders or -- like they did Saturday and Sunday -- play Bader in center alongside Carlson in right, the two will need to adjust to find their footing like they showed Sunday.

“In this league, you’ve got to continue to prove yourself day in and day out,” Bader said. “If you’re having trouble with a slider, they’re going to keep exploiting it until you prove otherwise. And that’s just the game within the game. Obviously the way they’re pitching me is different, so I’m going to keep adjusting every time they throw something different at me.”