The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a pivotal series in the National League wild-card race, and Yadier Molina felt the full intensity Tuesday night.

In the bottom of the second inning, after Jose Tabata singled to right, Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran came up throwing as Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison rounded third base.

 

Update: Tuesday, August 28 at 8:56 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

MLB.com reporter Jenifer Langosch quelled concerns regarding Molina’s injury status Tuesday evening:

This is good news for the Cardinals and better news for Molina. A collision like this could have had more worse results.

 

—————End of Update——————–

 

I’ll let Baseball Tonight host Steve Berthiaume tell you what happened next:

 

As you can see, it was a scary situation:

Molina struggled to get his bearings. He was obviously feeling every inch of Harrison’s stocky frame as St. Louis trainers tended to him near home plate.

Things like this happen every now and then, but that doesn’t make it any easier to see. Molina was taken to the clubhouse for further examination, and we will have to wait to see his status moving forward.

The 30-year-old Molina is hitting .325 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI this year and is arguably the best defensive catcher in baseball. He stood his ground with Harrison bearing down on him, and he didn’t really have a chance to brace himself for impact.

Though vulnerable to impact, he still managed to hang onto the ball. Like a true leader, he put his body on the line just to preserve one run in this pivotal series.

Once Molina was able to clear his head a bit, it was nice to see everyone show some class. Situations like this can be taken the wrong way by both sides, especially in a big game, but everyone applauded Molina as he walked toward the Cardinals dugout.

Stay tuned as more information regarding Molina’s injury comes out in the next few days.

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