PITTSBURGH — Albert Pujols continued his trek toward to 700 home runs Saturday night but he stopped by Alex Rodriguez’s house first.
The Cardinals first baseman ripped his 696th career homer, a first-pitch, 418-foot rocket to left field in the sixth inning to spark a rally which eventually led to a 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The drive off a slider from Pittsburgh right-hander JT Brubaker enabled Pujols to catch former American League slugger Rodriguez for fourth place on the most majestic of baseball’s offensive lists.
Barry Bonds had 762 home runs. Henry Aaron had 755. Babe Ruth had 714. Pujols has 22 games to hit four.
His 17th home run of the season erased a 3-1 Pittsburgh lead. An eighth-inning single, his third hit of the game, erased another Pittsburgh lead built after Pirates star rookie Oneil Cruz homered off JoJo Romero in the seventh.
Cruz has hit for the cycle in the first two games of this series.
The Cardinals took their first and only lead in the ninth when Molina singled and Paul DeJong, who had been nothing for 26, blooped a single to right, sending pinch runner Lars Nootbaar to third.
The next two ground balls did not plate a run but designated hitter Paul Goldschmidt barely fouled off two full-count pitches before drawing a walk. Nolan Arenado, who had been hitless in four at-bats, lined a bases-loaded double off Wil Crowe to send home three runners and the Cardinals' modest losing streak had ended at two.
