PITTSBURGH (AP) — Albert Pujols hit his 696th home run, tying fourth-place Alex Rodriguez on the career list, and the St. Louis Cardinals rebounded 7-5 at the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday night.
Pujols is behind only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time homer list. The 42-year-old Pujols has 22 games left in his 22nd and final season in the premier league.
“I don’t care who I tied,” Pujols said. “At the end of the day, it’s about tying (the game) for the team and giving them an opportunity to get a win. … It’s pretty special. I think I’m aware of where I am in the story of the game. But at the end of the day, when I did ball club 21 years ago, that wasn’t something I pursued.
“Twenty-two years later, I don’t think I’m going to change my approach,” he continued. “I think I’ll let things happen and try to enjoy them. When it happens, it happens. If not, I think at the end of the day everyone, including me, is pretty blessed with my career.”
With St. Louis sixth down 3-1, Pujols connected with a first pitch slider from JT Brubaker. He sent a two-barreled shot 418 feet into the left stand at PNC Park, launched at an exit speed of 111.2 mph.
“I know it’s a historic home run, but it still sucks,” Brubaker said. “I should have gotten off that hill to give our team the lead and I didn’t. That bothers me.”
Pujols also doubled and singled for the NL Central leaders. His RBI single in the eighth made it 4-all.
“Albert, knock three times. Big homer there,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “…Fouled two pitches away in the top of the zone. He knew he had to make an adjustment to gain the upper hand. Could get it a little low, climbed on top for a single. Driven in this run. That’s a professional at bat.”
Nolan Arenado broke the tie with a three-run double with two outs in ninth place ahead of Wil Crowe (5-9).
“You’ve got a guy grinding right now,” Marmol said. “He played a lot of games in a row. Head stays in, gives us a good shot there and goes in three heats. That was nice to see.”
Giovanny Gallegos (3-5) threw a perfect eighth inning for the Cardinals. Ryan Helsley allowed a two-off single from Bryan Reynolds in the ninth RBI before taking Rodolfo Castro to his 15th save.
Paul Goldschmidt was 0 for 4 and dropped his average to a .325 to fall behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (.330) in the NL batting race. His two-out walk loaded the bases in the ninth.
Oneil Cruz gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead in the seventh with his 14th homer, homed right over Clemente Wall. The 23-year-old rookie prevailed in the first singles and extended his winning streak to a career-best seven games. He is 14 for 30 (.467) during the streak.
“He’s a good player,” Pujols said of Cruz. “Obviously he has a great future ahead of him.”
Pittsburgh went 3-0 in the first two innings from two homers from Jack Flaherty, the first from a solo shot from Castro and the second from a two-run drive from Jack Suwinski. Flaherty went five innings and gave up three runs in six hits.
Brendan Donovan cut the gap to two with a home run on the Cardinals in fifth place.
TRAINING ROOM
Cardinals: LHP Packy Naughton recalled by Triple-A Memphis. … RHP James Naile was optioned to Memphis.
Pirates: RHP David Bednar hosted a live batting practice on Saturday. The all-star closer has been on the low-back strain injured list since Aug. 3.
NEXT
Cardinals LHP Jose Quintana (5-6, 3.41 ERA) will return to the Pittsburgh mound on Sunday and take on RHP Mitch Keller (5-10, 4.22). Quintana and RHP Chris Stratton were sent to St. Louis on August 1 in a trade that brought RHP Johan Oviedo and INF Malcolm Nuñez to the Pirates. Keller allowed five hits in six shutout innings against the Mets on his last game Tuesday.
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