Less than 17 hours after the second of his two homers Tuesday night, Molina was back behind the plate Wednesday afternoon to start his 11th consecutive game. Since he returned from the torn tendon in his hand that cost him almost five weeks, the Cardinals have played 16 games in 16 days in four different cities, and Molina has started 15 of them. The spigot of playing time for backup Matt Wieters has slowed to a trickle, with Saturday’s doubleheader looming as his next likely start.
An annual goal of Molina’s has been to lead the majors in innings caught, and Shildt is not over-exaggerating when he suggests Molina trains to catch all 162.