Yadier Molina homered twice on a day he paired with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright to tie the major league record of 324 starts by a battery in an 11-6 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Alex Call had four hits and five RBIs for Washington, including a three-run homer off James Naile in the ninth.

Wainwright and Molina matched the mark set by Detroit's Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan from 1963-75.

Molina hit a two-run homer into the third deck in left field in the third and a solo shot just ove the wall in the fourth. It was the ninth career multi-homer game for Molina and his first since April 17, 2021, at Philadelphia.

Wainwright allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings.

Miles Mikolas (11-10, 3.32 ERA) will open a three-game series Friday night at Pittsburgh, while the Pirates counter with RHP Roansy Contreras (4-4, 3.41 ERA). Mikolas allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings in his last start on Sept. 4.