Albert Pujols belted his 697th career homer on Sunday, breaking a tie with Alex Rodriguez to take sole possession of fourth place on MLB’s all-time home run list.
The 42-year-old veteran’s blast came when the Cardinals were desperate for a scoring surge against the Pirates.
Pujols smacked a two-run home run into center field, helping St. Louis pick up a 4-3 road win at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.
The sure-fire future Hall of Famer has hit 18 total home runs during his 22nd and final campaign. Pujols also has 21 more regular-season games for a chance to join the 700 club.
“There’s impressive, and then there’s unbelievable,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said about Pujols postgame Sunday. “And what we’re witnessing right now is absolutely legendary.”
Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer on Sunday against the Pirates. Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images
Albert Pujols’ homer cemented him as fourth on the all-time list for career home runs. Photo by Justin Berl/Getty ImagesTwo Pirates fans, Matt and Samantha Brown, caught Pujols’ historical home run and met with the Cardinals veteran postgame to give him the ball back.
After Samantha told Pujols that Sunday was the one-year anniversary of her dad’s death, he let them keep the ball and signed two more for them, BND.com’s Jeff Jones reported.
Pujols previously tied Rodriguez’s 696 career home runs on Saturday.
The Cardinals currently lead the NL Central division by eight games.
