ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals hit a home run from an exiting Legend in Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday, but in this case it was veteran catcher Yadier Molina and not slugger Albert Pujols.
Pujols is still two behind the 700 home run plateau, but Molina hit a two-run home run and Dakota Hudson threw eight innings with an (undeserved) one-run ball as the Cardinals beat the Reds 5-1 in Game 1 throttled a doubleheader at Busch Stadium.
Pujols, who hit the 698 home run Friday night, went against Cincinnati left-hander Mike Minor in his first two at-bats and then landed on reliever Kyle Dowdy in his third at-bat. Pujols scored in a double in the sixth and landed in the eighth to finish 0-on-3 with two walks. The two walks earned him 1,000 in his career as a cardinal.
Pujols started the game at first base and was seeded 2nd on the lineup when Tyler O’Neill was placed on the 10-day injured list. It was only the second time in Pujols’ 22-year career that he started a game as the No. 2 batsman in the lineup.
Molina, who announced in spring practice that this would be his last MLB season, hit a 3-1 pitch in the third inning for his fifth home run of the season at a Statcast-predicted 393 feet. With a single in the second inning and the home run in the third inning, Molina moved up to eighth in AL/NL history among primary catchers in total bases (3,116). He passed former Tigers great Lance Parrish (3,113 bases overall) for eighth.
Tommy Edman had three hits and one RBI for the Cardinals, who had nine hits from three Cincinnati pitchers. Dylan Carlson, who drove five hours from Des Moines, Iowa to St. Louis on Saturday morning after being activated, doubled. He had two doubles for Triple-A Memphis on Friday night in Iowa.
Hudson, who struggled with command issues for most of the season, was knocked out of the rotation after his ERA hit 4.43. He was sent to Triple-A Memphis on September 5 for some work, and he threw well while working at Triple-A level with a pitch clock. Hudson’s slow pace on the mound has been a point of contention with manager Oliver Marmol all season.
Hudson (8-7) limited the Reds to six hits in a career-best eight innings while striking five and walking two. The one run he conceded – on a TJ Friedl double in the seventh inning – was undeserved because of his own throwing error that put Matt Reynolds in goal position. Hudson won for the first time since August 25 in Chicago.