Hunt and Peck

On Monday night, the Cardinals did something that has not been done in a while - A Hunt and Peck

Or Tuesday morning, if you are in middle of the country.

By lil_scooter93 Aug 21, 2018, 1:00pm EDT

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers

This is Kenley Jansen:

Back in 2004, Jansen was signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent catcher. Defensively, he had a good reputation as a catcher, due in part to his strong throwing arm. Offensively, his numbers were poor, however. In 2009, the Dodgers convinced Jansen to give pitching a shot. It was a life-changing decision.

Jansen made his debut less than a year later, on July 24, 2010 and has never really looked back. Since switching to pitching, Jansen has become one the the premier relievers of his time, making the last three All Star Games and earning NL Reliever of the Year the last two years. In 2017, Jansen led the league in Saves. He has a career 2.11 ERA which is actually higher than his career FIP, which sits at 2.01. He has stuck out 38.9% of the batters he has faced while walking 6.8% and has a .171 batting average against. He has allowed 43 home runs in over eight season of work - just over 532 innings pitched.

Even the best relievers like Kenley Jansen will have off nights, though. Last night appeared to be one - he had just returned from the Disabled List with an irregular heartbeat, after all - as he allowed two earned runs in one inning of work, something he has done (allowed two or more runs) just twenty-three times in his career. The way those runs were scored is what is unique.

On Monday night, or early Tuesday morning for half the country, the Cardinals hit back to back home runs against Kenley Jansen.

Surprisingly, Jansen has allowed this one other time, all the way back on May 18, 2013 against the Atlanta Braves. Chris Capuano had a shutout going into the eighth inning of the game when he was pulled in favor of Jansen after allowing a single to B.J. Upton.