ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals have claimed a title for the second consecutive year: most-watched team.
For the second consecutive season, Nielsen Media Research data showed the Cardinals had the highest rated local television ratings in Major League Baseball. The viewership numbers were up 31% from last year, according to Bally Sports Midwest.
The Cardinals have had the top local broadcast ratings four times in the last five years, and the team has been in the top four in the league every year since 2000.
Bally Sports said the broadcasts averaged 141,000 viewers in the St. Louis area, but some of the most viewed games topped 200,000 viewers.
Here are the most-watched games of the Cardinals games that were broadcast on Bally Sports Midwest.
Most watched games:
April 7: Opening day
The return of Cardinals baseball was particularly special this season. The return of Albert Pujols for one last season and Yadier Molina's final opening day brought in 246,000 viewers.
With Adam Wainwright on the mound to resume the pursuit of the all-time battery record with Molina, the Cardinals delivered a 9-0 win over the Pirates.
Aug. 7: Series sweep of Yankees
The Cardinals entered an August series with the New York Yankees tied for the lead in the NL Central while the Yankees entered the series with the best record in the sport. After the Cardinals finished a three-game sweep at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals held a two-game lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the season.
Bally Sports said 225,000 people tuned in to watch the Cardinals slug their way to a 12-9 win. Nolan Arenado and Paul Dejong each had a home run and four RBIs.
Sept. 14: Wainwright, Molina break battery record
A day 20 years in the making drew huge crowds to Busch Stadium and on Bally Sports Midwest. For the 325th time, beginning in 2007, Wainwright and Molina started a game together for the Cardinals, setting a major-league record that legitimately likely will never be broken.
The network said 216,000 people tuned in to see the Cardinals win 4-1.
Aug. 21: Seventh win in a row
On a day when Jose Quintana had his worst start since joining the Cardinals, the bullpen and Nolan Arenado picked him up and carried the team to another victory.
Four relievers combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Arenado’s single with the bases loaded drove in two runs in the seventh that turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead on Sunday as the Cardinals completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
Bally said 215,000 people tuned in to see the 6-4 win.
Sept. 27: Cardinals clinch NL Central title against Brewers
St. Louis clinched the NL Central with a 6-2 win on Sept. 27 in Milwaukee over the Brewers.
Miles Mikolas allowed just four hits and one run over six innings, Paul Goldschmidt, who had not driven in a run in his last seven games, had two RBIs with a sacrifice fly and two hits and Dylan Carlson had a pair of doubles and scored two runs to slam the door on the Milwaukee Brewers and win the division.
Bally said 214,000 watched the division-clinching game.