Not to be lost amid the Cardinals’ part razzle-dazzle and part deflating series-opening loss to the Reds on Thursday were the milestones Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set … and will continue to set?

The long-time battery started its 284th game together -- a mark 14 years in the making -- to sit alone in fourth place in Major League history. In doing so, they passed the Dodgers’ Don Drysdale and John Roseboro and sit just 22 games behind the White Sox duo of Red Faber and Ray Schalk. Wainwright and Molina also sit in second place among National League batteries, behind only Warren Spahn and Del Crandall of the Braves.

“It’s starting to be in that place where you look at that No. 1 group and you go, ‘It's not that far away,’” Wainwright said.

Top batterymates since 1900 (regular season), per the Elias Sports Bureau:

1. Mickey Lolich-Bill Freehan -- 324
2. Warren Spahn-Del Crandall -- 316
3. Red Faber-Ray Schalk -- 306
4. Adam Wainwright-Yadier Molina -- 284
5. Don Drysdale-Johnny Roseboro -- 283

“Think of a regular season being 162, they've gone [over] a year and a half of a full season just them two pitching and catching,” manager Mike Shildt said prior to Friday’s rematch with the Reds. "It's amazing. It speaks to a lot of factors -- their loyalty to this team, their longevity, clearly, and their ability to have the passion and desire to compete in a highly competitive field for as long as they have together. … When you think about the amount of baseball that’s been played in our game, it's a pretty impressive feat.”

The Wainwright-Molina duo, which opened the season at 274 starts together, had an outside shot at reaching the ranks of Faber and Schalk, needing a season of near-perfect season health to get there. A stay on the injured list for both has probably dashed those hopes, but “maybe they'll start me on short rest a few times,” Wainwright joked.

So that leaves the years beyond 2021 as the time likely needed to catch the upper-echelon. Both re-signed to one-year deals this past offseason, and Wainwright and Molina have said they’ll continue to play as long as they feel they can contribute at a high level.

So far this year, that’s been readily apparent. Wainwright, 40 in August, is now slated as the Cardinals’ No. 1 starter, with Jack Flaherty injured and other depth options ailing. And Molina, 39 in July, is putting together one of the best offensive seasons of his career; His 130 OPS+ is just shy of his career high of 137 in 2012, when he finished fourth in National League MVP voting.

Put all this history in another context: Wainwright’s second-most frequent batterymate by innings is Tony Cruz, who he started 17 games with from 2012-15. (Andrew Knizner, Molina’s current backup, has appeared in only eight games with Wainwright.)

So could he have ever imagined it coming with any other catcher?

“No, that's really all I have to say about that,” Wainwright said. “You know, no, I don't, I don't -- I mean, you know, he's my catcher.”

DeJong plants himself
Not only will Paul DeJong (left non-displaced rib fracture) join Triple-A Memphis for a rehab assignment beginning Saturday, but the Cardinals’ shortstop has put his stake in a noble cause in the interim.

In coordination with Players for the Planet, an environmentally-focused non-profit founded by former big leaguer Chris Dickerson, DeJong will be planting 110 trees for each of his extra-base hits in the 2021 season. The charitable effort will also extend to community events designed to increase environmental literacy and address the loss of greenery in urban neighborhoods.

The A’s Tony Kemp is one of other big leaguers joining in this pledge with DeJong, who as a biochemistry major at Illinois State and as a Wisconsin native has long made public his love for the environment and the importance of preserving it.

So count the planet -- along with the Cardinals -- among those hopeful DeJong’s rehab assignment goes well, and that he’s back to mashing big league baseballs sooner than later.