ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina received a one-game suspension Monday from Major League Baseball following his ejection from the St. Louis Cardinals’ game a day earlier.
Unfortunately for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Molina appealed the ruling and was in the lineup Monday night for the opener of a four-game series between two division leaders. He hit his fourth homer of the season and drove in two runs, leading the Cardinals to a 7-1 victory.
Molina’s third-inning RBI single and his fifth-inning home run, both off Trevor Cahill (3-6), allowed him to raise his batting average to .350, taking over the lead in the NL batting race from Milwaukee’s Jean Segura.
“He’s taking great at-bats,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He had one little period when he was fighting himself a little bit, but that’s the difference right now with the guys with high numbers is that they have been able to figure everything out. Yadi shortened everything up and he’s able to do some things aggressively in the strike zone, like the home run today.”
Molina made a quick exit from the Cardinals’ locker room after the game, without speaking to the media, but his teammates had no trouble talking on his behalf.
“He’s the best in the game, there’s no question,” said second baseman Matt Carpenter, who had three hits, scored three runs and tied his career high by hitting safely in his 12th consecutive game. “We get to see it every day. Our pitching staff has been incredible, and he has a lot to do with that, especially with the young guys who have come up from the minor leagues and made such a some transition.
“Nobody plays the game harder or with more passion than Yadi. We all know what he’s capable of, and it’s not surprising to us what he had done.”
The opinion of Carpenter was supported by third baseman David Freese, who extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games with two singles in the Cardinals’ 14-hit attack.
“He’s an absolute MVP, it’s insane,” Freese said. “He just keeps getting better. It’s very impressive. I expect Yadi to do something special every day. He’s that type of player and that type of leader. He’s one of the best.”
Cahill said his problem on the night was that he kept falling behind in the count and had to make too many good pitchers, which the Cardinals didn’t miss. He gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings.
“They’re a good contact team,” he said. “I just wasn’t able to miss any bats. I made some good pitches even when I was behind in the count, and they were able to put a hit on it that was able to get through. I was just falling behind throwing too many balls. That was the story of the night.”
The Cardinals’ attack also featured three RBIs from Carlos Beltran, who hit his team-high 13th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh.
The offensive surge provided more than enough runs for St. Louis starter Lance Lynn (8-1). Lynn allowed just five hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out six. The lone Arizona run scored in the sixth when Manny Parra led off with a double and scored on an infield groundout by Paul Goldschmidt, his league-leading 47th RBI.
“He’s got good stuff,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said of Lynn. “He worked the outside corner. He had total command of his outside pitches. He’s very deceptive. He’s pitched for them well this year, and he pitched a good game against us tonight. To beat guys like that, you’ve got to play a much tighter game, and we were unable to match him tonight.”
NOTES: In addition to the suspension, Molina also was fined an undisclosed amount. He immediately appealed the suspension, and he is eligible to play until the appeal is heard … Arizona LHP Patrick Corbin was voted the NL Pitcher of the Month for May. Corbin won all five of his starts in the month and compiled a 1.53 ERA … Cardinals RHP Chris Carpenter took another step in his comeback from nerve problems near his shoulder by throwing to live hitters before Monday night’s game. He could be only a couple of weeks away from going on a minor league rehab assignment … Another injured Cardinals starter, RHP Jake Westbrook, will make a rehab start Tuesday night at Double-A Springfield … The Diamondbacks will promote LHP Tyler Skaggs from Triple-A Reno to start Tuesday night’s game against Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha. The pairing will be the second start of the season for both and will match two 21-year-old pitchers who are both former first-round draft picks.