The farewell continues for one of baseball’s all-time greatest hitters, with St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and designated hitter Albert Pujols hitting his 607th career home run, moving past former New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the all-time list. It came during the ninth inning that helped rally the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-3 win on Sunday.
Pujols is not wasting his last season on an abysmally performing team but is playing at a high level for an 83-58 Cardinals team that sits atop the NL Central division, tying for fourth in the National League. Pujols now trails baseball legends Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time homer chart. The two-time World Series champion has 21 games left in his 22nd and final season in the major league as he looks to join the 700 home run club.
The Cardinals were trailing 2-0 heading into the ninth inning, with Pujols teammates Tommy Edman and Corey Dickerson leading off with consecutive doubles to produce the first run. Pujols then entered the slammer and hit a home run, as he has done numerous times throughout his historic career, helping the Cardinals recover and take a 4-2 lead.
Greg Allen of the Pirates would then hit a homer to make it a 4-3 ball game, but it wouldn’t be enough to seal the win. The Cardinals overcame a 2-0 deficit heading into the ninth inning after getting shut out on all but three hits throughout the first eight innings.
With the postseason nearing, how far do you believe the Cardinals can go in the playoffs? It will be a tough road as they would have to overcome some powerhouse teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, who own the best record in baseball, the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, and divisional rivals like the Milwaukee Brewers, just to name a few.
Whether Pujols Cardinals can help him ride off into the sunset as a champion remains to be seen, but one thing we will know regardless of the outcome of this postseason is that he is one of the greatest players and hitters that this game has ever seen.
Yep, we have one too
