St. Louis Cardinals (35-33) at Atlanta Braves (30-34) Game No. 69 • Road Game No. 35 • Truist Park • Thursday, June 17, 2021 RHP John Gant (4-4, 3.36) vs. RHP Charlie Morton (5-3, 4.50) STL FLY: The St. Louis Cardinals open a six-game road trip to Atlanta (June RECORD BREAKDOWN 17-20) and Detroit (June 22-23) with an open date in the Motor City on Monday. CARDINALS vs. BRAVES All-Time Overall .........10,203-9,688 The club is currently 3-0 on a stretch of 20 consecutive games against oppo- All-Time (1892-2019):......................... 1,082-975 2021 Overall ........................... 35-33 nents with sub-.500 records (June 14-July 4)...St. Louis enters today in 4th All-Time vs. Atlanta (1966-2019): ..............286-255 Under Mike Shildt ............... 197-159 place in the National League Central, 3.0 games behind Chicago and Milwaukee. in St. Louis (1892-2019): ................................ 575-459 St. Louis last won a road game at Los Angeles on June 1, a 3-2 last at-bat win at Sportsman’s/Robison Field (1892-1920): . 141-126 Busch Stadium .......................19-15 against the Dodgers. at Sportsman’s Park/Busch I (1920-65): ...... 285-213 On the Road ............................16-18 at Busch Stadium II (1966-2005): .................. 126-99 Day .......................................... 13-13 WELCOME FRENCHY!: Today, the St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent LHP at Busch Stadium III (2006-19): ....................... 23-21 Wade LeBlanc to a Major League contract. LeBlanc, 36, a 13-year veteran orig- Night ........................................22-20 in Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta (1892-2019) .... 507-516 inally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft out of in Boston (1892-1952): ................................... 315-302 Spring.................................... 8-10-6 the University of Alabama, has made 246 career appearances, posting a 46-48 at S. End Grnds II/III/Congress (1892-1914): . 81-124 April ......................................... 14-12 record and 4.59 ERA. The southpaw made six appearances for Baltimore this at Fenway Park (1914-15): ................................... 5-6 May..........................................16-12 season (0-1, 9.45 ERA, 6.2 IP) and seven starts in Triple-A between Nashville at Braves Field (1915-52): ............................ 229-172 June .............................................5-9 and Round Rock (3-1, 3.12 ERA, 34.2 IP) The Cardinals will be LeBlanc’s 10th in Milwaukee (1953-1965): .................................. 55-79 at Milwaukee County Stadium (1953-65): ........ 55-79 July ........................................... n/a Major League team. RHP Seth Elledge was optioned to Memphis (AAA) follow- ing Wednesday’s games while INF Max Moroff (left shoulder subluxation) was in Atlanta (1966-2019): ..........................137-135 August ...................................... n/a transferred from the 10-day to 60-day Injured List. at Fulton County Stadium (1966-96): ............. 104-89 September/October ................... n/a at Turner Field (1997-2016):............................. 27-43 Monday..................................... 4-4 SWEEP-STAKES: The Cardinals swept the season series from the Miami Marlins at Truist Park (2017-19): ............................6-3 2019...................................................................... 2-4 Tuesday .................................... 6-3 for the first time in club history winning all six games. The last time the Car- dinals took a season series of six or more games before yesterday was 2015 Busch Stadium ................................................... 1-2 Wednesday ............................... 6-6 against Arizona (7-0). Truist Park ......................................................... 1-2 Thursday .................................. 5-2 Postseason (1982-2019) ....................................... 13-6 Friday ........................................ 4-5 SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: During their three-game homestand with the Mi- in St. Louis (1982-2019) ...................................... 7-2 ami Marlins, the Cardinals won in their final at-bat all three games including in Atlanta (1982-2019) ......................................... 6-4 Saturday ................................... 6-5 back-to-back walk-off wins on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yadier Molina collect- 2019 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS (2-4) Sunday ..................................... 3-8 ed his 8th walk-off RBI with a shutout breaking 9th inning single yesterday after- Scoring First ........................... 25-9 5/14 at ATL ....W, 14-3 ...............Flaherty-Foltynewicz noon to score Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt send the Cardinals home with a 5/15 at ATL ....L, 4-0 ............. Soroka-Wacha-Jackson Opponent Scores First .......... 10-24 walk-off home run on Tuesday, his 6th career and 3rd career against Miami. It 5/16 at ATL ....L, 10-2 .................Teheran-Wainwright One-Run Games .........................9-6 was Tyler O’Neill playing hero with an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th inning 5/24 at STL ....L, 5-2 ...................Foltynewicz-Mikolas Two-Run Games .........................7-6 on Monday. The Cardinals won three straight in their final at-bat for the first time 5/25 at STL ....W, 6-3 ................ Miller-Winkler-Hicks since the “Weekend of Walk-offs” against Pittsburgh, May 1-3, 2015. Scoring 2 or fewer Runs ...........6-19 5/26 at STL ....L, 4-3 (10) ..........Webb-Webb-Jackson Scoring 3 Runs ...........................3-7 DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Prior to yesterday, the last time Yadier Molina had 2019 POSTSEASON SCHEDULE (2-2) Scoring 4 or more Runs ...........26-7 a walk-off RBI was October 7, 2019, an extra inning sac fly sending the Cardinals 10/3 at ATL ....W, 7-6 ............... C.Martinez-Melancon to Atlanta for Game 5 of the NLDS. History repeated itself as Molina’s walk-off 10/4 at ATL ....L, 3-0 .....Foltynewicz-Flaherty-Melancon Scoring in 3 or fewer innings . 30-31 single yesterday has the Cardinals going to Atlanta today. 10/6 at STL ....L, 3-1 ....Newcomb-C.Martinez-Melancon Scoring in 4 or more innings ......5-2 10/7 at STL ....W, 5-4 (10) ................ Mikolas-Teheran vs. Right-Handed Starter .......26-29 A PERFECT 10: St. Louis is returning to Atlanta for the first time since win- 10/9 at ATL ....W, 13-1 ...............Flaherty-Foltynewicz ning Game 5 of the 2019 National League Division Series in which the Cardinals vs. Left-Handed Starter ..............9-4 posted a 10-run 1st inning en route to a 13-1 win sending them to the National Last Cardinals Sweep ......... May 5-7, 2017 at ATL (3G) Series Openers ....................... 12-10 League Championship Series. The Cardinals are 6-3 all-time in the regular sea- Last Braves Sweep ... June 29-July 1, 2018 at STL (3G) Series Finales ..........................10-12 son at the new Truist Park in Cobb County and 8-4 including the postseason. Homestand Openers ..................5-1 WE’RE KIND OF A BIG DEAL: Tomorrow starts a series of three game televised MOLINA MILESTONES Homestand Finales ....................4-2 nationally between the Cardinals and Braves. Bally Sports Midwest will televise Road Trip Openers ......................3-4 tonight and tomorrow night, while MLB Network will co-exist on Friday, FOX MLB All-Time Rank - Catchers Hits Seasons Road Trip Finales ........................2-5 Saturday Baseball will televise the third game of the series and ESPN Sunday 1. Ivan Rodriguez 2,844 1991-2011 2. Ted Simmons 2,472 1968-88 Following Off-Days .....................3-6 Night Baseball will pick up the broadcast on Sunday, the Cardinals 4th Sunday 3. Carlton Fisk 2,356 1969-93 Night broadcast of the season and 2nd time on consecutive weeks (May 16 at Out-Hit Opponents ...................24-7 4. Jason Kendall 2,195 1996-2010 Out-Hit by Opponents............... 7-24 SD & May 23 vs. CHI - June 13 at CHI & June 20 at ATL). 5. Yogi Berra 2,150 1946-65 Final At-Bat Decisions ................8-4 OH, CANADA: Tyler O’Neill (28-80, .350/.402/.750) has reached base safely in a 6. Mike Piazza 2,127 1992-2007 Come-from-Behind W/L ...............7/7 career-best 22 consecutive games (since May 14), 2nd-longest active in MLB be- 7. Gary Carter 2,092 1974-92 8. Johnny Bench 2,048 1967-83 Walk-off Wins/Losses ................3-0 hind Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (24) and longest by a Cardinal since Paul Gold- schmidt’s 23-game on-base streak from July 29-Sept. 1, 2020 ... among National 9. Yadier Molina 2,047 2004-21 In Errorless Games ................22-16 Leaguers with 180 plate appearances, O’Neill ranks 2nd in AB/HR (11.40), 3rd in MLB All-Time Rank - Catchers Doubles Seasons Commit at Least One Error ..... 13-17 slugging (.614), T-6th in home runs (15), and 7th in OPS (.942). 6. Jason Kendall 394 1996-2010 Extra Innings ..............................3-1 “BENCH”-MARK: With his next hit, Yadier Molina (2,047) will tie Johnny Bench 7. Yadier Molina 392 2004-21 Shutouts .....................................5-3 for 8th place in career hits by a catcher with 2,048. Gary Carter sits in 7th place Leading after 7 innings ............. 27-1 on the list with 2,092. Tied after 7 innings .....................6-2 Trailing after 7 innings ..............1-29 ATLANTA CONNECTIONS Leading after 8 innings .............28-0 Adam Wainwright was born in Brunswick, Geor- Braves Manager Brian Snitker was born in near- Graduated from Decatur (Ga.) High School. gia and resides in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia... by Decatur, Illinois...graduated from Macon