Worth noting

• With a day game Sunday, manager Mike Matheny opted to start Rob Johnson at catcher on Saturday night in lieu of Tony Cruz. It marks Johnson's first start since Aug. 12, 2012, when he was with the Mets.

Matheny said Johnson, who signed with St. Louis last November, was aware of the team's catching situation, with Yadier Molina established as an All-Star and Cruz settled into the backup role. That did not dissuade Johnson from finding a way to impart his knowledge onto the organization.

"He knew also that we had a lot of young arms on the way and he'd play a very important role for us," Matheny said. "It all kind of played out as we had discussed back in the winter. Now he's getting an opportunity to do something and help us out at the big league level."

• Matheny helped warm up his pitchers in the latter innings of Friday's victory. Matheny, a former catcher, cited a lack of bodies for the reason.

"This wasn't a glory day thing," Matheny said. "We were out of people. I don't want one of my pitchers out there warming somebody up. ... If we need an extra guy to catch, I like looking at what the pitchers are doing, so I enjoy getting back there."

One reporter noted that the Cardinals' shutout disappeared once Matheny started warming up the pitchers. The skipper snickered.

"Yeah, I did notice that," Matheny said.

• The Cardinals' wins the last two days over the Pirates and Reds marked the first time in franchise history that the club scored 13 runs in consecutive games against two different teams.