inning. Capped by Molina's three-run home run, the Cardinals rallied and won 5–4 in the ninth. The next day, Molina's suicide squeeze bunt scored Mark Grudzielanek, tying the game and allowing the Cardinals to win 4–2. Those were just two wins of 100 as St. Louis made their way to another division title following 105 wins the season before. In 114 games, Molina posted a .252 batting average with eight home runs and 49 RBIs with just 30 strikeouts in 421 plate appearances. Defensively, he registered career-highs of nine pickoffs and a caught-stealing percentage of 64 from throwing out 25 of 39 would-be base-stealers. According to Baseball-Reference.com, as of 2013, that percentage ranked as the 26th highest all-time season-single caught stealing percentage. Since 1957, only Mike LaValliere's 1993 figure of 72.7% was higher. Before the 2006 season commenced, Molina participated in the inaugural World Baseball Classic (WBC) for Puerto Rico. After returning to the Cardinals, he changed his jersey number from 41 to 4. However, the regular season presented some of his greatest offensive challenges as he struggled through a career-worst .216 batting average in 461 regular-season plate appearances. It was a culmination of a decline over his first three seasons; Molina's on-base plus slugging percentages (OPS) registered at .684 in 2004, .654 in 2005 and .595 in 2006. The low batting average was due in part to a deflated batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of .226 (normal is around .300), a career low. In a May 27 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego with the Cardinals holding a 4–3 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Molina picked Brian Giles off first to end the game, the first pickoff to end a major league game in nearly four years. The Cardinals faced the Padres again in the National League Division Series (NLDS) playoff game in the playoffs, he again picked a Padre off at first, this time Mike Piazza, while bailing pitcher Jeff Suppan out of a jam. For the season, he caught 41% of all base-stealing attempts and picked off seven runners. Even as his bat languished, Molina's defense was instrumental in propelling the Cardinals to the National League Central division crown in a season heavily marred by injuries for the team. However, the following playoffs marked a turning point in his career offensive output. He posted a .358 composite