ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina made some Cardinals history on Sunday at Busch Stadium, and the man he passed on the franchise's all-time hit list is as excited as anyone.
Former Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols congratulated Molina on Twitter after the current Cards' catcher passed his "big brother" to move into fourth place all-time in hits as a Cardinal.
Molina's fifth-inning single off John Gant of the Minnesota Twins gave him 2,074 hits as a Cardinal, one more than Pujols. Molina added another hit later in the game for good measure.
"Congratulations to my little brother @Yadimolina04 for passing me on the @Cardinals all-time hit list. Your hard work and dedication has paid off! Not only are you one of the premier hitters in baseball, but you are the greatest catcher in the game today and future HOFer," Pujols tweeted. "I look forward to spending some time together during the St. Louis series in September, we can celebrate in person!"
Pujols and the Los Angeles Dodgers will be in town to face Molina and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium starting on Monday, Sept. 6.
Molina and Pujols were Cardinals teammates from 2004-2011, bringing the franchise two World Series titles in 2006 and 2011.
Molina now sits at 2,075 career hits. Rogers Hornsby is third all-time in franchise history with 2,110 hits as a Cardinal, 35 more than Molina. Lou Brock is second with 2,713 hits as a Cardinal, and Stan Musial is first with 3,630 hits for the franchise.
Molina is continuing to move up some other notable franchise leaderboards as well. He's third all-time in games played for the Cardinals, fourth in doubles, tenth in home runs, seventh in RBIs and seventh in total bases.