CINCINNATI – Another night, another home run for Albert Pujols. As he chases 700 career home runs and fourth-all time, Pujols now stands alone in one notable home run category.
Pujols took Reds relief pitcher and Wentzville native Ross Detwiler deep in the third inning, a two-run home run that helped the Cardinals jump to an early 8-0 lead against the Cincinnati Reds.
The round-tripper not only ups Pujols’ career total to 694, but gives him at least one home run against 450 unique pitchers, passing MLB’s all-time home run leader Barry Bonds for most off of different pitchers.
Pujols has been heating up in the power department recently. He has 11 home runs since the start of July and eight over the last three weeks. His pursuit for most off unique pitchers took a but of a halt in August, when some of his came against players he has homered against before, including Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby and Taylor Rogers, Colorado’s Austin Gomber and Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner.
In postgame interviews Monday, Pujols says the Cardinals’ midseason surge has helped back his recent success, telling Bally Sports Midwest “At the end of the day we help each other out and pick each other up. We’re playing great baseball.”
It took many tries against Detwiler, a ten-year southpaw who has played for seven teams, for Pujols to pick up a home run. In his 10th head-to-head at-bat, Pujols slugged an outside pitch to the opposite field of Great American Ballpark.
Only four MLB greats have more career home runs than Pujols and only three are part of the 700-home run club. The top four all-time home run leaders are Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696). Pujols is currently fifth with 694 round-trippers.
The Cardinals continue a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday with a 75-54 record and a six-game lead in the NL Central.