Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright battery continues to make history

Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright started together for the 270th time on Saturday.

Only six other batteries in MLB history have shared the kind of bond formed by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and pitcher Adam Wainwright.

On Saturday, the two solidified that standing with their 270th start together, tying the duo of Gary Carter and Steve Rodgers of the Montreal Expos for the sixth-most in MLB history.

If they would like to add a win to their combined tally, they will have to get by the Cubs.

Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright have played almost their whole careers together.

Wainwright and Molina are the only active pitcher and catcher in baseball with more than 200 appearances in the same battery. The latter came into the league in 2004. The former followed in 2005 and they’ve been a pair ever since.

If they want to move up the all-time list, they’ll have to spend a lot more time together.

They are 12 games behind Red Ruffing and Bill Dickey of the New York Yankees from 1930 to 1946 in fifth place. Can they get there? It depends on how long Wainwright, 39, and Molina, 38, continue their careers. They’re already among the oldest players in MLB this year.

The Cardinals teammates will start their fifth game together this year on Saturday night. Had it been a normal season, they might have been able to make a run at fifth place. As it is, one more full season would do the trick.

However, it would take an additional 54 starts together to match all-time leaders Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan, who racked up 324 starts as a battery for the Detroit Tigers from 1963 to 1975. That may be a bit too much to ask.

Then again, Jamie Moyer pitched until he was 49 years old. Maybe Wainwright and Molina have another decade in them.

After all, Wainwright doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He has an ERA of 2.65 and a record of 3-0 in 2020. On Aug. 30, he pitched a complete game with Molina behind the plate.