Albert Pujols may not have been in the starting lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he sure made his presence felt.
Pinch hitting for Nolan Arenado in the top of the fifth with the Cards leading 11-0, Pujols blasted one over the left field wall off of Pirates pitcher Chase De Jong for his 682nd career homer.
That made it 12-0.
Fast forward to the ninth inning, Pujols did it again, this time with a three-run homer off of Josh VanMeter.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted about where Pujols stands now in has chase for 700 career home runs.
Pujols sits at 683 and needs 17 more to hit the mark.
Albert Pujols is now 17 homers away from joining the 700 home run club, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. https://t.co/pQJHrI50Ra
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 22, 2022
Albert Comes Up Clutch
Well, it clearly did not matter whether Pujols started or not in yesterday’s game.
He still provided the Cardinals with an offensive jolt after an 0-for-5 night on Saturday.
To go 2-for-3 off the bench with two homers is a nice accomplishment for a single game.
But he continues to climb in the record books.
Even at 42, he is proving that he is still a very dangerous hitter and somebody you do not want to face when the game is on the line if you’re a pitcher.
Of course, it was pretty much over before it started yesterday, especially by the time Pujols came to the plate for the first time.
But he displayed professionalism and poise at the plate, almost as if the game was tied.
You can never take a guy like Pujols for granted.
And now he inches ever closer to the 700-home run mark.
We’ll see if he can get there by the end of the season.
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