30 Carson Kelly C

Kelly went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs in Tuesday's 10-2 win over the Brewers.

The rookie catcher started in place of Yadier Molina (abdomen) and ended up contributing the first multi-hit effort of his career. Kelly has generally struggled against big-league pitching thus far, however, as Tuesday's production snapped what had been a 3-for-19 tally in August.

Kelly went 1-for-5 with a two-run double and a run in Friday's 11-4 win over the Cubs.

A late addition to the lineup after Yadier Molina (ankle) was sidelined, Kelly extended the Cardinals' lead to 8-3 with a rope to deep left in the eighth that plated Paul DeJong and Kolten Wong. Kelly had been coming on at Tripe-A Memphis before being called up, as he'd recently hit a career-high 10th home run and was carrying a solid .283/.375/.459 line. He'll slot in as Molina's backup now that veteran Eric Fryer has been jettisoned, but will take a seat Saturday with Molina back in the lineup.

Kelly was added to Friday's lineup due to Yadier Molina's late scratch with right ankle discomfort, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Kelly was virtually placed into the lineup during the first pitch after it was decided that Molina could not play in the series opener. Manager Mike Matheny slid Kelly behind the plate for his first start of the 2017 season while placing him eighth in the order.

Kelly was promoted by St. Louis prior to Friday's game against the Cubs.

Kelly joined the big-league club for 10 games last season, going 2-for-13 at the plate with one RBI in a brief stay with the Cardinals. While at Triple-A Memphis this season, the 22-year-old has greatly impressed the organization, hitting .283/.375/.459 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI while figuring it out behind the plate. With Eric Fryer getting handed a DFA on Friday, Kelly will be Yadier Molina's backup moving forward.

Kelly's two-run home run in Triple-A Memphis' win over Round Rock on Saturday was his ninth of the season and established a new career high, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The promising backstop is now hitting .314 with two homers, eight RBI, seven walks and eight runs over his last 10 games, a stretch that includes a pair of multi-hit efforts. Kelly is slashing a solid .284/.381/.457 and has driven in 39 runs overall in what is his second go-around with the Redbirds, but ageless veteran Yadier Molina continues to have a firm hold of the starting catcher job at the major-league level.