Albert Pujols hit his 698th house run, a connecting two-run drive in the 6th inning that triggered the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Friday night.
Pujols hit a first-pitch slider from Raynel Espinal 427 feet into the left-field stands for his 19th house run this season, connecting the rating 4-4. Pujols tracks just Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the profession list.
With 2,203 RBIs, the 42-year-old Pujols moved within 11 of Ruth for 2nd, behind Aaron’s 2,297.
Ryan Helsley struck out Kyle Farmer, Jake Fraley and Donovan Solano on 9 pitches for his 18th conserve in 22 possibilities, the 3rd spotless inning in Cardinals history after Bob Gibson in 1969 and Jason Isringhausen in 2002.
Pujols is striking .324 (45 for 139) with 15 homers and 35 RBIs in 47 videogames giventhat July10 Five of his last 6 house runs have come in the 6th inning or lateron, and his last 5 homers haveactually connected the videogame or put St. Louis ahead.
Pujols hit a drive to T.J. Friedl at the left-field wall in the seventh. He is in his 22nd significant league season and means to retire at the end of the season.
St. Louis (85-60), which started the night with a 7 1/2-game lead over second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central, has 17 videogames staying.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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