PHOENIX — Albert Pujols’ first MLB home run came on April 6, 2001, at Chase Field. The 42-year-old Cardinals slugger wasn’t going to leave from his final trip to the desert without hitting some more.
Pujols put on another show in the Cardinals’ 16-7 win over the D-backs on Saturday night, continuing his pursuit of the elusive 700-homer milestone — a chase that is becoming more realistic by the day.
Pujols went deep in his first two at-bats against left-hander Madison Bumgarner, swatting his 691st and 692nd career home runs. Pujols is fifth on the AL/NL all-time home run list, four behind Alex Rodriguez.
Pujols also moved into second on the AL/NL all-time total bases list with his first homer. He now has 6,141, after entering the day one behind Cardinals legend and Hall of Famer Stan Musial (6,134). The only player with more career total bases than Pujols is Hank Aaron (6,856). The Cards’ slugger finished the night 4-for-4, adding a pair of singles.
In early August, it seemed like Pujols had only an outside chance at reaching 700 career homers, as he had seven through his first 62 games of the season. However, he’s now swatted six over his past eight games with two multi-homer performances during that stretch, as he also hit two against the Brewers on Sunday at Busch Stadium.
Pujols entered the game with only one previous homer off Bumgarner, which came during a Giants-Cardinals matchup at Busch Stadium on Aug. 20, 2010. However, Pujols has always fared well in limited appearances against the southpaw, as he was 6-for-14 vs. Bumgarner after his first two at-bats Saturday.
Pujols has 12 career homers at Chase Field. After his second on Saturday, the large contingent of Cardinals fans sitting behind the visitors’ dugout gave Pujols a raucous standing ovation, with chants of “Al-bert! Al-bert!” ringing through the ballpark.