ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Cardinals have already made some history this season thanks to a 17-game winning streak. It's the longest streak in team history, the longest in MLB since Cleveland won 22 straight in 2017 and the longest streak to come later than Sept. 1 in all of baseball, since the 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 in a row.
But more history lies ahead if this team can make a run in October.
First, trade deadline acquisition Jon Lester, 37, may get a chance to pitch in his 10th career postseason – with his fourth different team (Boston, Oakland, and Chicago Cubs). He's got the most postseason pitching experience on this team.
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Lester is currently 14th all time in MLB playoff wins with nine. If he gets one more he'll be tied for 10th with Chris Carpenter, Dave Stewart, CC Sabathia, David Wells and Whitey Ford. He's also ninth for total innings pitched at 154, but his 2.51 ERA is better than every player above him on that list, which includes hurlers like Andy Pettitte, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Justin Verlander.
Lester is also ninth in career postseason strikeouts – sitting just four behind another 2021 postseason pitcher, Max Scherzer of the Dodgers.
Then, there's Yadier Molina. The captain, the so-called G.O.A.T. at his position who's ready to begin his 12th postseason.
The only players ahead of him in many all-time offensive playoff categories are guys who played predominately for the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox between 2000-10. He could leap over some of them if the Cardinals can continue this run.
Molina's 101 games played is good for sixth all time and with 12 more he'd move into fourth place. He's also seventh in at bats and ninth in plate appearances.
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And he's been a hitting machine, as he can move into fourth place with just three more base knocks, surpassing fellow catcher Jorge Posada. He's also second all time for postseason singles and will probably be staying there. His 78 are well short of Derek Jeter's 143.
St. Louis will play at either the Dodgers or Giants on Oct. 6 for the NL Wild Card game.
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