ST. LOUIS -- When Dylan Carlson?rounded the bases after his first Major League home run in Sunday¡¯s 6-2 win over the Reds at Busch Stadium, the longest-tenured Cardinal who had just matched some personal history was standing there waiting for him.

Carlson crossed home plate and high-fived Yadier Molina, who was on base for Carlson¡¯s two-run shot after his fourth base hit of the game, matching a career-high mark that Molina has reached 19 times. As Molina climbs the Cardinals' record book and puts the finishing touches on his career, Carlson is just beginning.

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¡°That¡¯s unbelievable,¡± Carlson said. ¡°It¡¯s a moment I¡¯ll always remember -- and for Yadi to be there, of all people, that¡¯s a pretty special moment.¡±

Since he was promoted last week, Carlson has been searching for results. Entering Sunday, he was hitting .114 (4-for-35) across 11 games. His batting average masks how several of his hardest hits have gone for outs, and he¡¯s also hit into some savvy defensive positioning, too.

Still, Carlson had struck out 10 times in 35 at-bats. Pitchers have thrown him more offspeed and breaking stuff than might typically be thrown to a rookie, a trend he began to see in the Minor Leagues, though he didn¡¯t know if it would continue in the Majors. According to Statcast, entering Sunday, Carlson has seen the lowest fastball (four-seam, two-seam and sinkers) percentage (27.7 percent) in the Majors among batters to see at least 100 pitches.

But the Cardinals have been impressed with how he¡¯s handled that trend in his first week here.

¡°Just a very steady guy that¡¯s got a nice approach, doesn¡¯t try to do too much, letting the game come to him,¡± manager Mike Shildt said. ¡°For a young guy, it¡¯s impressive what he¡¯s doing and how he¡¯s been able to handle some balls being hit at people and not getting the results and not overreacting and just staying within himself and stay within the process.¡±

Carlson finished Sunday 2-for-4 with his home run on a hanging slider from reliever Nate Jones that landed in the St. Louis bullpen for safekeeping.

¡°It¡¯s just been a lot of learning, a lot of trusting and just sticking to the process and grinding,¡± Carlson said. ¡°Just understanding that it¡¯s a process, not trying to rush everything and do everything right away. Just believe in myself. Guys on the team have been preaching to me that it¡¯s a process and it¡¯s coming.¡±

Carlson punctuated what Harrison Bader started in the second inning. Down two after Reds third baseman Eugenio Su¨¢rez¡¯s two-run homer off starter Daniel Ponce de Leon -- who tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing four walks while striking out two -- in the first inning, Bader answered with a two-run shot of his own after Carlson reached base on a fielder¡¯s choice.

It was Bader¡¯s second home run in as many games. Like Carlson, Bader has also seen fewer fastballs -- 36.6 percent of all the pitches he had seen entering Sunday -- as pitchers figure out how to pitch him, and he¡¯s had to adjust. And as the Cardinals figure out the best outfield alignment, swapping out center fielders or -- like they did Saturday and Sunday -- play Bader in center alongside Carlson in right, the two will need to adjust to find their footing like they showed Sunday.

¡°In this league, you¡¯ve got to continue to prove yourself day in and day out,¡± Bader said. ¡°If you¡¯re having trouble with a slider, they¡¯re going to keep exploiting it until you prove otherwise. And that¡¯s just the game within the game. Obviously the way they¡¯re pitching me is different, so I¡¯m going to keep adjusting every time they throw something different at me.¡±