Cardinals Stat of the Day: June 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, May 2021

June 30: Cardinals 7, D-backs 4 -- Reyes perfect in save chances
A three-run eighth inning for the D-backs meant that whoever pitched for the Cardinals in the ninth would be pitching in a save situation, so Mike Shildt turned to Alex Reyes, who is as close to a sure thing as St. Louis has in its bullpen. Despite throwing 32 pitches the day before, Reyes gave up only an infield single en route to closing out the D-backs and completing the sweep. The save was Reyes' 20th of the season, and he's converted all 20 save opportunities he's had. He currently has the most saves with a perfect conversion percentage before the All-Star break in Cardinals history, ahead of Tom Henke (17-for-17 in 1995) and Joe Hoerner (11-for-11 in 1969).

June 29: Cardinals 3, D-backs 2 -- Nolan goes to great heights
Nolan Arenado has said that the left shoulder injury he endured through a tough 2020 season impacted him far more in the batter's box than in the field. He struggled finishing his swing high in the zone and couldn't connect on high fastballs. So, if you need any proof Arenado is back to full health, the two-run home run he hit in the fifth inning is a good indication. A pitch 3.67 feet off the ground led to the third-highest he's hit for a homer in his career.

June 28: Cardinals 7, D-backs 1 -- Yadi's double-duty history
With his seventh-inning double -- the 395th of his career -- Yadier Molina moved into sole possession of sixth place in AL/NL history regarding career two-baggers among primary catchers, scoring a crucial pair of runs along the way. History continued when Molina raced home later in the inning on Paul DeJong's homer. It was Molina's 736th career run scored, tying him with Ted Simmons for first place among primary catchers in Cardinals history.

June 27: Pirates 7, Cardinals 2 -- Oviedo's run support
Johan Oviedo ran himself into trouble on Sunday, throwing 42 pitches in the first inning and walking four. He remains on the prowl for his first career big league win, but he's gotten little help to get there. The Cardinals have not scored a run in support of Oviedo in each of his last three starts, the most famous of which was seven shutout innings on June 16, which St. Louis ultimately won in walk-off fashion.

June 26: Cardinals 3, Pirates 1 -- Goldy's monster blast
Paul Goldschmidt hit one where they don't go on Saturday. His 470-foot blast was an impressive feat of strength in its own right, clearing Freese's Lawn in dead center field on the fly. But it also marked the fourth-longest homer at Busch Stadium III history, marked the longest in St. Louis in the Statcast Era (since 2015) and missed the longest-tracked mark of his career -- a 471-foot blast he hit on Aug. 26, 2015 -- by just a single foot. Of course, that long ball came when he was with the D-backs ... against the Cardinals.

June 25: Pirates 5, Cardinals 4 -- Yadi passes Bench
It was more a matter of when, not if, Yadier Molina would pass Johnny Bench on the all-time hits list among catchers. Molina's third-inning double gave him 2,049 career hits to pass Bench, considered the best catcher in baseball history, for sole possession of eighth place in AL/NL history. Next up: Gary Carter, at 2,092. What's more, Molina stole third base just two pitches later. It was his first stolen base since 2019, a year in which he stole third base twice.

June 24: Pirates 8, Cardinals 2 -- O'Neill collects free passes
Perhaps lost among Tyler O'Neill's breakout season is that he's getting on base on an almost nightly basis -- a 22-game streak that only ended last week, from May 22 to June 16. And to make matters better, he's taking his walks on a much more routine basis. So call Thursday's showing -- a pair of free passes -- more a sign of what's been coming than an abberation, even though it was only the second game in his career with multiple walks. The other? Sunday. O'Neill also took his fifth hit-by-pitch of the season in the eighth inning. That one scored a run.

June 23: Tigers 6, Cardinals 2 -- Gant holds firm again
John Gant's walks have been an issue this season, but the nickname given him by manager Mike Shildt -- Frogger -- says a lot about the righty's uncanny ability to navigate traffic on the bases. Before Gant allowed a two-run double in the third, he walked the first two batters of the second inning but rebounded with three consecutive groundouts to escape the threat. Gant has held opposing batters to 9-for-66 when hitting with runners in scoring position this season.

June 22: Tigers 8, Cardinals 2 -- Nootbaar crashes onto scene
Lars Nootbaar has gained a bit of a cult following on social media, mostly due to his catchy name but also because St. Louis' eighth-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft adds versatility to the outfield, a capable glove and a powerful arm.

His bat isn't too shabby either. The 23-year-old was promoted ahead of Tuesday's game, started in left field and brought home the team's first run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. Nootbaar is the first Cardinal since David Freese in 2009 to record a sacrifice fly in his MLB debut.

June 20: Cardinals 9, Braves 1 (Game 1) -- Yadi ties Bench
Another day, another game, another Yadier Molina milestone. The Cards icon laced his 2,048th hit, a single in the third inning, to tie Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for eighth all-time among AL and NL backstops.

And oh yeah, Molina also threw out outfielder Abraham Almonte trying to steal second base on a throw tracked 78.7 mph from his knees in the second inning. The pitch Adam Wainwright threw from the mound? 74.7 mph.

June 18: Braves 9, Cardinals 1 -- Edman raps another double
Tommy Edman opened Friday's game in Atlanta with a double. It was his 18th double this season, putting him among the league leaders in the category. It's also a new career high for Edman, surpassing the 17 he had in 2019. Edman is hitting .260/.305/.379 with four home runs, 18 RBIs and 12 stolen bases on the season.

June 17: Braves 4, Cardinals 0 -- Goldschmidt extends on-base streak
Paul Goldschmidt kept his on-base streak alive with a single in the top of the seventh, breaking up the Braves' no-hitter. With the knock, Goldschmidt extended his streak to four games. Goldschmidt is hitting .248 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs.

June 16: Cardinals 1, Marlins 0 -- Oviedo throws it back to 2013
Not only was Johan Oviedo's effort enough to give the Cardinals their first season sweep of the Marlins in franchise history, but for his age, it was one of the best starts for St. Louis in recent memory. The 23-year-old Oviedo became the youngest Cardinal to toss seven scoreless innings with zero walks in a start since Shelby Miller did the exact same on May 10, 2013, against the Rockies at Busch Stadium. Miller's outing that day was also his first career shutout.

June 15: Cardinals 2, Marlins 1 -- Goldy's familiar walk-off
Paul Goldschmidt. A 1-1 ballgame late. Marlins in town. Sound familiar? That's because Goldschmidt's walk-off blast against the Marlins was his first walk-off homer since ... a solo shot in the 11th inning against Miami on June 19, 2019. Almost two years to the day.

June 14: Cardinals 4, Marlins 2 -- Waino fans No. 1,900
Adam Wainwright almost assuredly won't catch Bob Gibson's franchise record of 3,117 strikeouts. But he continues to give himself a decent chance to become only the second Cardinal with 2,000 punchouts, as his whiff of Jorge Alfaro on Monday was the 1,900th of his career. Ending his evening with six, Wainwright ran his his career total up to 1,903. Uncle Charlie is going to need to kick it into high gear over the remainder of the season -- and perhaps in 2022 if he returns -- but the double-millennia milestone remains a real possibility.

June 13: Cubs 2, Cardinals 0 -- Nolan being Nolan
Nolan Arenado made a pair of superb plays on Sunday Night Baseball, robbing Willson Contreras and Patrick Wisdom of hits while ranging into foul territory. But the third baseman's most telling play may have been one more casual. To nab Contreras again, this time in the sixth inning, Arenado unleashed a rocket 88.4 mph throw across the diamond. It was his fastest tracked throw this season -- by a margin of 2.3 mph -- and exactly 2 mph off his career high. That toss, on June 9, 2015, nabbed none other than Yadier Molina.

June 12: Cubs 7, Cardinals 2 -- O'Neill extends streak
A ninth-inning single from Tyler O'Neill shed some positivity on a tough night at Wrigley Field. With the knock, O'Neill extended his career-best on-base streak to 18 games. Over that stretch, the left fielder is hitting .358 (24-for-67) with a gaudy eight homers, seven of which have come in just 14 games since returning from the injured list.

June 11: Cubs 8, Cardinals 5 -- Yadi passes Pierzynski
With his second-inning single, Yadier Molina moved into a tie. With his fifth-inning knock, he leapfrogged. And with his seventh-inning hit, he inched closer to a Hall of Famer. The Cardinals' catcher laced career hits Nos. 2,043, 2,044 and 2,045 against the Cubs on Friday, passing A.J. Pierzynski (2,043) for sole possession of eighth among primary catchers. Next up: Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, at 2,048.

June 9: Cardinals 8, Indians 2 -- Another 450-ft HR for O'Neill
Tyler O'Neill is a pretty spectacular player to watch when he's in a groove, with both power and speed that are among the very top ranks of baseball. On Wednesday, he hammered his 14th (and 15th) homers of the season -- and sixth (and seventh) in 13 games since returning from the injured list -- the first going 451 feet past the visitor's dugout in left field. It was O'Neill's fourth home run of the season of at least 450 feet. No one else in baseball has more.

June 8: Indians 10, Cardinals 1 -- No home cooking
The Cardinals dropped to 15-15 at home on the season. St. Louis' sixth consecutive loss is the worst stretch under Mike Shildt's tenure as manager. It marked the club's first six-game skid since June 2-8, 2017, and the first time it has lost six straight home games since June 27-July 14, 2018. Mike Matheny was dismissed as Cardinals manager following that final loss and Shildt was tabbed interim manager shortly thereafter.

June 6: Reds 8, Cardinals 7 -- Carp loves bases loaded
Matt Carpenter has never been one to shy away from a bases-loaded moment, even 11 years into his big league career. As a pinch-hitter -- his 87th career plate appearance with the bases juiced -- Carpenter collected his 87th and 88th RBIs with a two-run double to the warning track as part of a seven-run frame. That's right -- he has more RBIs than plate appearances with the bases full, thanks to a .483 batting average and an OPS well over 1.100.

June 5: Reds 5, Cardinals 2 -- Walks prove costly
Frustrating for the Cardinals is how much they pride themselves on their defense. So when the pitching offers as many free passes as it has so far this season -- including four on Saturday -- it does little to allow that defense to showcase their abilities and collect outs. While four is not quite such a gaudy number, it included each of the Cardinals' first three pitchers on the afternoon issuing a leadoff walk -- the latter two of which came around to score. All told, St. Louis has issued 265 walks on the season -- 27 more than any other MLB squad by final out on Saturday.

June 4: Reds 6, Cardinals 4 -- O'Neill's sprawling defense
Tyler O'Neill knows what it means to take a hit to make the play. He learned it as a Canadian native and hockey fan growing up, and he learned it again with an immaculate catch against the Reds. The Cardinals' left fielder had to cover 89 feet in 4.9 seconds as he slid into the short wall in foul territory to retire Shogo Akiyama in the sixth inning. Lauded for his unique combination of power and speed, O'Neill sprinted 28.7 feet/second to make the catch; 27.0 is league average. What's more, O'Neill fired a 87.1 mph dart to nab Jonathan India trying to stretch a single in the eighth.

June 3: Reds 4, Cardinals 2 -- Everlasting battery
Move over, Don Drysdale and Johnny Roseboro. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina now own the fourth-most starts together among all-time pitcher-catcher batteries after making their 284th start together against the Reds. Next up on the list: Red Faber and Ray Schalk, who own 306 starts together.

June 2: Dodgers 14, Cardinals 3 -- Goldy's Dodgers domination

Before the Dodgers came out with 11 runs in the bottom of the first, Paul Goldschmidt opened the scoring with a solo homer. It was Goldschmidt's 33rd against the Dodgers in his career, which is the most among active players.

June 1: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2 -- Molina moves up the ranks
This marked the 2,026th game caught of Yadier Molina's career, moving him past Jason Kendall for fifth in MLB history. Next on the list is Gary Carter, with 2,056, a mark Molina could pass later this season. The Majors' all-time leader in games caught is Ivan Rodriguez, with 2,427.