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Albert Pujols inches closer to club 700 after hitting his 698th career home run when St. Louis Cardinals defeated Cincinnati Reds 6-5
- Albert Pujols hit a two-run homerun to tie the game in the sixth inning for number 698
- He’s just two home runs away from being only the fourth player to ever reach 700 . has passed
- Winning Cardinals gives them an eight game lead over NL Central with 17 games to go
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Albert Pujols hit his 698th home run, a two-run drive that brought the St. Louis Cardinals into a sixth inning tie with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday-evening.
The homer brought him within just two of an impressive 700 home runs in his career.
The veteran batter hit first-pitch slider Raynel Espinal 427 feet into the left field stands for his 19th home run of the season to make it 4-4.
Albert Pujols hit the 698th career homerun to end the game in sixth inning against Cincinnati Reds
Pujols follows only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the career list.
Along with the home run, he also drove to TJ Friedl to the wall in left field in the seventh. With 2,203 RBI’s, Pujols shoved inside 11 of Ruth for second, behind Aaron’s 2,297.
Pujols hits .324 9 (45 for 139) with 15 homeruns and 35 RBI in 47 games since July 10.
Pujols returns from the dugout to greet the crowd as they give him a standing ovation
Five of his last six home runs have come in the sixth inning or later, and his last five home runs have tied the game or put St. Louis ahead.
He plans to retire at the end of the season. St. Louis has 17 games to go.
They currently hold an eight-game lead over the National League Central Division and have an 85-60 record.
Pujols was greeted by his teammates with a walkway of high fives after his home run on Friday