Yadi HRs rockin' Clemente's 21: 'Great honor'

ST. LOUIS -- When the ball cleared the left-field wall in the second inning on Thursday, Yadier Molina pumped his fist. He did a little hop of celebration when he reached first base and had a grin on his face as he rounded the bases.

As he approached home plate, he kissed the No. 21 patch on his right sleeve and lifted his face and arms up to the sky.

This one was special.

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Wearing No. 21 to honor and celebrate Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, Molina launched a two-run home run in his first at-bat, sparking the Cardinals' offense to a 12-2 win over the Tigers in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader at Busch Stadium.

“Right on top,” Molina told FOX Sports Midwest where this homer ranks. “Before the game, I was praying to have a good game and to get a win, but at the same time, I was hoping to do something special. I’m just happy, thankful for that moment. A great honor.”

The Puerto Rican catcher was 2-for-4 in Game 1, adding a single in the fourth inning during the Cardinals’ offensive outburst against Detroit. Molina’s home run put the Cardinals on the board and the rest of the lineup took it from there, scoring seven runs in the third inning, another in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Molina, Tyler O'Neill, Lane Thomas, Paul Goldschmidt and Rangel Ravelo hit home runs off four Tigers pitchers.

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“It was fun to see,” Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty said of Molina’s home run. “For them to allow him to wear No. 21 is special, and for him to have two hits and hit the homer -- you could see how pumped up he was when he hit it. I don’t feel like he shows emotion too often, but he was pretty pumped, and that was fun to see.”

Molina has often talked about the impact Clemente has had on his life and his family’s life in Puerto Rico. The Puerto-Rican born Clemente was the first Latin American player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and was a revered figure for his achievements. He was the 1966 MVP Award winner, a 15-time All-Star, a 12-time Gold Glove Award winner and a four-time batting champion who had 3,000 hits during his 18-year career.

For many Latin American players today, the trailblazing Clemente is their idol, not just for what he did on the field but for what he accomplished off of it, too.

Molina was the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award recipient for his charitable work through Fundación 4 and his ongoing humanitarian efforts to aid in the recovery from Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in '17. The Clemente Award is considered to be the most prominent individual player award presented by Major League Baseball. It annually recognizes one player who best represents the sport through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

“This guy was unbelievable,” Molina said. “Obviously, everyone knows what he did on the field, but off the field, the work he did to help the people -- not only in Puerto Rico but in other Latin countries -- this guy is unbelievable. You can learn from it.”

Molina was among many Puerto Rican players around the league to don No. 21 this week. MLB celebrated Roberto Clemente Day on Wednesday, but because the Cardinals were off, Molina wore No. 21 on Thursday against the Tigers. The team celebrated the day with a Clemente graphic on the scoreboard and a “Roberto Clemente Day” banner in right-center field. All players wore the No. 21 patch on their uniforms, too.

Thursday was also, in a way, a day to celebrate Molina on a day that means so much to the veteran catcher and leader of the Cardinals' clubhouse. Much like nearly every time Molina steps up to the plate this season, he passed a few milestones with the swing.

The second-inning shot marked home run No. 158 in Molina’s career, passing Johnny Mize for 10th all-time in Cardinals history. The two RBIs gave Molina 930 in his career, passing Ted Simmons for seventh all-time in franchise history.

“When you’ve got someone like [Molina] in your clubhouse, he’s someone that you go to battle with,” Flaherty said. “You go to battle for him. You want to fight and win with that guy right by your side because you know he’s out there, he’s giving it his all each and every day, and you know he’s working harder than every single guy in this clubhouse. That’s what’s pretty inspiring about him.”

Molina also guided Flaherty through five innings and the bullpen through two more. Flaherty allowed two runs with Jeimer Candelario’s two-run home run in the fourth, struck out six and walked two.

Flaherty wasn’t thrilled with his start. He was happy with the way his defense played -- including a stellar double play turned by Kolten Wong and Goldschmidt to get out of the third inning -- but looking to improve things himself.

Like most pitchers do, Flaherty will turn to Molina and ask his steady backstop and leader what the right-hander can fix for his next start.

“I feel like I can ask him anything,” Flaherty said. “We’ll probably talk about this start, figure out what we can do to improve things. He’s got so much knowledge. He’s so smart; he knows everything about the game. He sees things differently.”