It was a night to forget for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, as they had a clunker against the Tampa Bay Rays, falling 11-3 and dropping their first series since mid-May.
With the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals chose to stick their stalwart catcher Yadier Molina on the mound in an attempt to save the bullpen.
The last time Molina took the mound was on May 22 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he allowed four runs in the ninth inning and the Cardinals blew out the Bucs.
But when Molina picked up a strikeout, his first of his career, the Bally Sports Midwest cameras panned towards the St. Louis dugout, where Albert Pujols was having himself a ball.
Albert Pujols was all smiles after Yadier Molina got his first career strikeout on the mound 👏
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/4JlahctpB3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 9, 2022
The Machine Lets Loose
This is great to see.
Pujols himself had a pitching appearance back in May.
But he enjoyed every bit of watching his teammate for many years take the mound and deliver a scoreless inning for the Cardinals.
It’s the final season for both Pujols and Molina, and they’re both taking it all in and having the time of their lives.
Neither one of them have very good ERAs, with Molina posting an 18 ERA over his two appearances and Pujols posting a 36 ERA.
But hey, at least they’re having fun in their final season, right?
It’s the last time that Pujols, Molina, and Adam Wainwright will ever be together.
It’s clear that Pujols was having a great time watching Molina pitch, and why wouldn’t he?
Molina pitching is such a rare sight that it’s one you really need to take in.
We can only hope Pujols has that much fun the next time he gets a pitching appearance.
NEXT: Cardinals Insider Shares Hilarious ERA Breakdown Among Team Legends