St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park on May 11. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Lars Nootbaar of St. Louis Cardinals Helps Make Wild Baseball History in Sunday Win

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Brady Farkas | Last updated May 12, 2025 9:38 AM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on Sunday afternoon, moving to 22-19 overall. The Cardinals, who are supposed to be in a rebuild, are now in second place in the National League Central.

The Nationals are 17-24 and in fourth place in the National League East.

Nolan Arenado went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the win while Willson Contreras was 2-for-4 with a home run as well. Lars Nootbaar led off the game with a homer, his second leadoff homer of the season.

That blast also helped create some interesting league-wide history, according to @OptaSTATS:

Lars Nootbaar hit his second leadoff home run of the season, becoming the 15th player with multiple leadoff HR in 2025.

MLB having 15 players with multiple leadoff HR on May 11 is 10 days earlier than it’s happened in any other season all-time (May 21st in 2019).

Lars Nootbaar hit his second leadoff home run of the season, becoming the 15th player with multiple leadoff HR in 2025.

MLB having 15 players with multiple leadoff HR on May 11 is 10 days earlier than it’s happened in any other season all-time (May 21st in 2019).
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 11, 2025

Now 27, Nootbaar is in the fifth year of his career, all with the Cardinals. He's hitting .244 this year, which is line with his career .245 average. He's got six homers, 22 RBIs and four stolen bases.

He was also a valued member of the Japanese team that won the 2023 World Baseball Classic, becoming good friends with Shohei Ohtani along the way.

The Cardinals will be back in action on Monday night when they take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET as Matthew Liberatore (STL) pitches against Cristopher Sanchez (PHI).

Liberatore is 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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