St. Louis Cardinals (36-37) at Detroit Tigers (31-42) Game No. 74 • Road Game No. 40 • Comerica Park • Wednesday, June 23, 2021 RHP John Gant (4-5, 3.50) vs. RHP Matt Manning (0-1, 3.60) STL FLY: The St. Louis Cardinals finish a two-game set with the Detroit Tigers at RECORD BREAKDOWN Comerica Park this afternoon before returning to St. Louis following the game. CARDINALS vs. TIGERS All-Time Overall .........10,204-9,692 This concludes a six-game road trip to Atlanta (June 17-20) and Detroit (June All-Time (1998-2020):...............................13-25 22-23). The club is 4-4 on a stretch of 20 consecutive games against opponents 2021 Overall ........................... 36-37 in St. Louis (1998-2020): ..................................... 7-9 with sub-.500 records (June 14-July 4)...St. Louis enters today in 4th place in Under Mike Shildt ...............198-163 the N.L. Central, 4.5 games behind Chicago and Milwaukee. Tomorrow begins a at Busch Stadium II (1998-2001) ...................... 3-5 Busch Stadium .......................19-15 seven-game homestand vs. Pittsburgh (June 24-27) and Arizona (June 28-30). at Busch Stadium III (2009-20) ......................... 4-4 On the Road ............................17-22 in Detroit (1999-2018): ............................ 6-16 THE +/- FACTOR: Currently, the Cardinals have a -38 in run differential this sea- Day .......................................... 14-13 at Tiger Stadium (1999) ................................... 2-1 son, ranking 12th among 15 National League teams ahead of Colorado (-58), at Comerica Park (2000-18) .................... 4-15 Night ........................................22-24 Pittsburgh (-94) and Arizona (-108). This is their lowest mark through 73 games 2021.....................................................0-1 since 2007 when they were at -75. Spring.................................... 8-10-6 at Busch Stadium III (2009-20) ......................... 0-0 April ......................................... 14-12 CAT SCRATCHED FEVER: With last night’s loss, the Cardinals dropped to 13-25 at Comerica Park (2000-18) ......................0-1 May..........................................16-12 all-time against the Detroit Tigers in the regular season. Only the Texas Rangers 2020...................................................................... 1-1 June ...........................................6-13 (3-9, .250) and New York Yankees (3-9, .250) have hijacked the Cardinals flights 2018...................................................................... 1-2 to the Land of Wins at a higher percentage in the regular season. The Cardinals July ........................................... n/a Postseason (1934-2006) ....................................... 11-8 are 6-16 all-time in the regular season playing in Detroit (Tiger Stadium & Co- August ...................................... n/a merica Park), but 5-2 during the postseason. The same can be said in New York September/October ................... n/a where the Cardinals are 0-6 in the regular season at both Yankee Stadiums, but 2021 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS (0-1) Monday..................................... 4-4 9-6 in the postseason. 6/22 at DET... L, 8-2 ............... Funkhuser-Oviedo 6/23 at DET............................... 12:10 p.m. CT Tuesday .................................... 6-4 PONCE DE LEON TO I.L; ELLEDGE RECALLED: RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon was 8/24 at STL ............................................ 6:45 p.m. CT Wednesday ............................... 6-6 placed on the 10-day Injured List today with right shoulder discomfort. The 8/25 at STL .......................................... 12:15 p.m. CT Thursday .................................. 5-3 Cardinals have recalled RHP Seth Elledge (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 9 app. in STL)from Memphis (AAA), who was just 52 miles down the road in Toledo where the Red- Friday ........................................ 4-6 birds were playing the Mudhens last night. Ponce de Leon was removed from Last Cardinals sweep: ........................................... n/a Saturday ................................... 6-5 last night game after two batters (his second trip to the I.L. this season; right Last Tigers sweep: ............... May 18-20, 2007 at DET Sunday ..................................... 4-9 shoulder inflammation 4/30-5/18) Scoring First ........................... 26-9 IN GOOD COMPANY: Lars Nootbaar made his Major League debut last night Opponent Scores First .......... 10-28 and was 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly. He became the fifth Cardinals player in club MOLINA MILESTONES One-Run Games .........................9-7 history (since the sacrifice fly became an official stat) to record a sacrifice fly in MLB All-Time Rank - Catchers Hits Seasons Two-Run Games .........................7-6 his debut, along with David Freese (most recently in 2009), Wally Moon, Ken Reitz and Jim Lindeman. 1. Ivan Rodriguez 2,844 1991-2011 Scoring 2 or fewer Runs ...........6-23 2. Ted Simmons 2,472 1968-88 Scoring 3 Runs ...........................3-7 “BENCH”-MARK: With his next hit, Yadier Molina (2,048) will pass Johnny 3. Carlton Fisk 2,356 1969-93 Scoring 4 or more Runs ........... 27-7 Bench for 8th place in career hits by a catcher with 2,049. Gary Carter sits in 4. Jason Kendall 2,195 1996-2010 7th place on the list with 2,092. Scoring in 3 or fewer innings . 30-35 5. Yogi Berra 2,150 1946-65 6. Mike Piazza 2,127 1992-2007 Scoring in 4 or more innings ......6-2 DESIGNATED TO HIT: Since Interleague play began in 1997, the St. Louis Cardi- nals have the highest batting average coming from the designated hitter position 7. Gary Carter 2,092 1974-92 vs. Right-Handed Starter .......27-30 with a .286 average, followed by the Boston Red Sox (.279) and Cleveland Indians 8. Johnny Bench 2,048 1967-83 vs. Left-Handed Starter ..............9-7 (.266). This season, Cardinals DH’s lead MLB in batting again and are 5-for-14 Yadier Molina 2,048 2004-21 Series Openers ....................... 12-12 (.357) with two doubles as Matt Carpenter (2-3, 2B, BB), Nolan Arenado (1-4, MLB All-Time Rank - Catchers Doubles Seasons Series Finales ..........................10-13 2B), Paul Goldschmidt (1-3, BB) and Tyler O’Neill (1-4) have all taken a turn. 6. Jason Kendall 394 1996-2010 Homestand Openers ..................5-1 IN THE CROSSHAIRS: Cardinals infielder Edmundo Sosa was hit by pitch for the 7. Yadier Molina 392 2004-21 Homestand Finales ....................4-2 10th time last night, moving him into the National League lead, once again, tied Road Trip Openers ......................3-5 with Kyle Farmer of Cincinnati and Josh Harrison of Washington. Sosa’s 10 hit by pitch in the Cardinals first 73 games are T-7th most in club history with Steve Evans (1912) and David Eckstein (2006). Dan McGann was plunked 16 times in the first 73 games of the Cardinals 1901 Road Trip Finales ........................2-5 season with Fernando Viña holding the modern day mark at 14 (2000). Following Off-Days .....................4-7 WIN = 3 POINTS...ER, RUNS: Cardinals starting pitchers have received three runs of support or more in 25 of 73 games this season, with the Out-Hit Opponents ...................25-7 Cardinals posting a 22-3 record (.880 winning percentage) in those games. St. Louis’ pitchers rank 22nd in MLB in run support average (4.12). Out-Hit by Opponents...............7-28 Final At-Bat Decisions ................8-4 WELL RESTED: Cardinals relievers Alex Reyes and Giovanny Gallegos have not pitched since last Tuesday (June 15) in a walk-off victory over Miami at Busch Stadium. This is the longest time between relief outings for both Reyes and Gallegos in their careers with the Cardinals that Come-from-Behind W/L ...............7/7 didn’t involve injury, COVID or All-Star Break interruption. Reyes has gone six days between appearances twice this season (4/8-14 & 6/6-12). Walk-off Wins/Losses ................3-0 The 26 year-old rocket-armed reliever, who ranks 5th among National League relievers with a perfect 17-for-17 in saves, has appeared in only In Errorless Games ................23-19 five games in June after making 12 and 14 appearances respectively in April and May. Commit at Least One Error ..... 13-18 THIS DATE IN CARDINALS HISTORY: JUNE 23, 1985: John Tudor hurled a two-hit shutout while six different Cardinals (including Tudor) Extra Innings ..............................3-1 collected exactly two hits as St. Louis blanked Chicago 7-0 at Busch Stadium II. The win was Tudor’s fifth victory in the month of June en route Shutouts .....................................8-6 to six wins in the month, a mark no Cardinals pitcher has achieved since in the month of June. Prior to June 3, Tudor was 1-7, but finished Leading after 7 innings ............. 27-1 the season 20-1 for a 21-8 record, the last Cardinals left-handed pitcher to win 20 games in a single season. Tied after 7 innings .....................6-2 Trailing after 7 innings ..............1-32 DETROIT CONNECTIONS Leading after 8 innings .............28-0 Cardinals Director of Communications Brian games for the inaugural Memphis Redbirds in man Marv Owen in the 6th inn., so infuriating is a native of Battle Creek Mich...graduated 1998, where he was teammates with Detroit fans that they bombarded Medwick with Tied after 8 innings .....................6-2 Bartow Ron “Pop” from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. Warner and Bryan Eversgerd. empty bottles, fruit, vegetables and debris when Trailing after 8 innings ..............0-33 he took his