Cardinals Stat of the Day, July 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Cardinals this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Cardinals Stat of the Day, June 2021

July 31: Twins 8, Cardinals 1 -- Yadi ties Pujols
Open the door, Albert Pujols, your close friend Yadier Molina is knocking. With two hits on Saturday, Molina raised his career hit tally to 2,073 in a Cardinals uniform, tying Pujols for fourth on the franchise's all-time list. One more will give Molina sole possession of fourth. But Pujols does have some bragging rights: His 3,289 career hits far outmuscles Molina's total.

July 30: Cardinals 5, Twins 1 -- A golden milestone for Goldy
Paul Goldschmidt's sixth-inning single not only continued his revival stretch of baseball over the last month, but it earned him yet another career milestone. It was the 1,500th base knock of Goldschmidt's career, making him one of 18 active Major Leaguers to reach that mark. They are broken down as such:

• 1,182 with the D-backs, 318 with the Cardinals
• 891 singles, 322 doubles, 21 triples and 266 homers

And for good measure, Goldschmidt added hit No. 1,501 in the seventh inning -- a double.

July 28: Indians 7, Cardinals 2 -- Carlson's switch-hitting swats
With his third-inning solo shot to center field, Dylan Carlson made a bit of history. The blast was Carlson’s 11th of his first full season. That ties him with teammate Tommy Edman (2019) for the Cardinals’ rookie record for a switch-hitter. Carlson has plenty of season left to earn the record outright. As for the overall record for homers by a switch-hitting Cardinals player, that belongs to Ripper Collins, who hit 35 in 1934.

July 27: Cardinals 4, Indians 2 -- Waino not slowing down
Adam Wainwright gave the Cardinals at least seven innings for the 10th time in his age-39 season on Tuesday. Per Baseball Reference, this marks just the sixth time in franchise history that a starter aged 39 or older had at least 10 such starts … and the first in a very, very long time. Grover Cleveland did it in four seasons (his age-39, -40, -41 and -42 seasons) from 1926-29, and Murry Dickson had 18 such starts in his age-39 season in 1956. In making his Progressive Field debut, Wainwright also extended a team record by pitching in the 33rd venue of his career.

July 25: Cardinals 10, Reds 6 -- Homers thrice as nice
Want an indication that the Cardinals' offense is clicking? Look no further than the fact that Sunday's four-homer affair was their third with at least four long balls on the season and their third of at least three in July. They notched just one three-homer game in June. What's more, the 10-run showing was their first since May 1, elevating their July average to 4.42 runs per game, as opposed 3.19 mark in June.

July 24: Reds 5, Cardinals 3 -- Woes continue vs. Reds
The Cardinals lost for the sixth consecutive game against the Reds, marking the team's longest losing streak against Cincinnati since 2003.

July 23: Reds 6, Cardinals 5 -- Carlson's cannon
The Cardinals' outfield en masse had a knack for the flair on Friday, but no one featured strength quite like Dylan Carlson did. The rookie right fielder fired a 90.4 mph throw home to nab Eugenio Suárez trying to tag up and score a go-ahead run on a flyout in the seventh. Instead, Carlson's second-fastest outfield assist this year became a sensational double play. With a 92.4 mph throw in April, Carlson is one of 16 outfielders who have multiple 90+ mph assists on the year.

July 22: Cardinals 3, Cubs 2 -- Sizing up Kim's streak
Jake Marisnick's two-run double in the fourth inning ended Kwang Hyun Kim's streak of 24 consecutive innings without allowing a run. It's the longest such streak by a left-handed Cardinals starter since John Tudor amassed 31 consecutive scoreless frames in 1985. Only two Korean-born pitchers -- Chan Ho Park (33 innings from 2000-01) and Hyun Jin Ryu (32 in 2019) -- own longer career streaks.

July 21: Cardinals 3, Cubs 2 -- Goldy leads 'em all
Paul Goldschmidt's first-inning double gave him a 16-game hitting streak -- the longest active streak in the Majors. It tied Yadier Molina's 16-game streak in 2019 -- the last time a Cardinal had a streak this long -- and it is one back of the second-longest in Goldschmidt's career, which he set in 2012 with the D-backs. The longest streak of Goldschmidt's career was a 26-game stretch from 2013-14 with Arizona.

July 20: Cubs 7, Cardinals 6 -- Firsts for Rondón
José Rondón had a torrid Spring Training, and he rediscovered some of that pop in this one. His sixth-inning homer was not just the first of his Cardinals tenure, but it was the first pinch-hit homer of his career after 33 at-bats in that role. What's more, it was his first home run of any variety in the Majors since July 4, 2019, after mashing six in the Minors this season.

July 19: Cardinals 8, Cubs 3 -- Back-to-back jacks
When Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt went back to back to widen the Cardinals' margin in the sixth inning, it marked just the fourth time this season St. Louis had homered in consecutive at-bats. That comes after the Cardinals have hit Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado consecutively in every game they've started together this season, without homering back to back. Could they be next? "Coming soon, to a ballpark near you," manager Mike Shildt said recently.

July 18: Cardinals 2, Giants 1 -- Goldy extends streak
With his fourth-inning single, Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 13 games, which surpassed Tommy Edman for the longest by a Cardinal this season. Goldschmidt is hitting .412 (21-for-51) over that span.

July 17: Cardinals 3, Giants 1 -- Reyes ties saves record
With his save Alex Reyes has converted 23 straight save opportunities to open his MLB career. But what's more, it moved him into a tie for an American League/National League record. Only Twins great LaTroy Hawkins converted as many saves as Reyes has to open his career.

July 16: Giants 7, Cardinals 2 -- Molina moves on up
Yadier Molina took the break off from baseball activities ... and it was a very brief pause in making Cardinals history. His two-out single in the seventh inning on Friday represented the 2,065th hit of his career, passing Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter for sole possession of fifth in franchise history. He'll almost certainly pass close friend Albert Pujols (2,073) for fourth place this season. Next on the list: Rogers Hornsby with 2,110, Lou Brock with 2,713 and Stan Musial with 3,630.

July 10: Cardinals 6, Cubs 0 -- Yadi's historic day
On a day he picked up his 2,064th base knock -- moving into a tie with Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter for fifth in Cardinals history -- Yadier Molina was named to his 10th All-Star team. That honor also pushed Molina up some historic ranks:

• He passed Bob Gibson, Albert Pujols and Red Schoendienst for fourth-most All-Star nods in Cardinals history (tying Slaughter).
• He tied Pujols for second-most among active players (one behind the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera).
• He has the most career nods among players selected to this year’s game.
• He moved into a tie for ninth-most all-time among catchers.

July 9: Cubs 10, Cardinals 5 -- Surprisingly friendly confines
A favorite to jeer in Chicago, Yadier Molina notched his 227th career game against the Cubs and his 114th career game at Wrigley Field in Friday’s loss, passing Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby for sole possession of fifth all-time in Cardinals history in both categories.

July 7: Giants 5, Cardinals 2 -- Carpenter's (subtly) big hit
Giants right-hander Tyler Rogers is one of the best relievers in the National League, a submariner who is absolutely devastating against lefties. Matt Carpenter, for most of this season, has struggled to buy a hit, without a single base knock into left field entering the finale vs. San Francisco. So of course, the first extra-base hit Rogers allowed to a lefty this season was to Carpenter, who dunked a double the opposite way into left field.

July 6: Cardinals 6, Giants 5 -- Arenado torments Giants
Nolan Arenado hit his 12th career home run at Oracle Park, the second-most home runs by an opposing player in the park's history. The opposing player with the most home runs at Oracle Park is teammate Paul Goldschmidt, who has 13 home runs.

July 5: Cardinals 5, Giants 3 -- 7 scoreless for Kim
Kwang Hyun Kim logged seven innings on Monday, matching the longest outing of his Major League career. He pitched seven scoreless in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader against the Brewers on Sept. 14, 2020, though he got a no-decision upon the Cards' loss.

July 4: Rockies 3, Cardinals 2 -- Bader vs. breaking pitches
Hitting breaking balls was a point of emphasis for Harrison Bader this offseason. Doing so off righties? Especially so. The results are paying off. Bader's two-run home run off Germán Márquez's knuckle-curve in the second inning was his fourth homer of the year off a right-hander’s breaking ball. That’s in only 26 games this year. In 348 games entering the 2021 season, he had only five such homers.

July 3: Rockies 3, Cardinals 2 -- Cabrera meets Coors Field
Not one to concede homers, Génesis Cabrera finally learned the brutal nature of Coors Field. The game-breaking three-run blast he conceded to Trevor Story in the seventh inning was only the second homer he's given up this season and the seventh of his career. Traveling a Statcast-projected 461 feet, it was the only long ball he's seen travel over 425 feet while on the mound.

July 2: Cardinals 9, Rockies 3 (10) -- Molina's HR checklist
Yadier Molina ripped a 105.6 mph homer 433 feet, into the left-field seats. The two-run long ball marked the first of his career at Coors Field. It was the last ballpark Molina needed to own a regular-season homer in every active NL ballpark.

July 1: Rockies 5, Cardinals 2 -- Tyler O'So Close!
Don't blame yourself if you jumped off your couch at home when Tyler O'Neill connected on Tyler Kinley's slider in the eighth inning. Tied 2-2, O'Neill hammered the ball 107 mph, sending it a Statcast-estimated 419 feet into the Denver night. In 27 ballparks, similarly-hit balls would go for home runs. The only three: Comerica Park, Chase Field and ... Coors Field.