Los Angeles, California — The St. Louis Cardinals arrived in Los Angeles for a three-game series this weekend, sitting atop the National League Central Division with a commanding 7.5-game lead and will have to play in one of the Wild Card series as the No.3 seed in the National League. They bring with them Albert Pujols, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and nine-time winner of the Latino Sports National League MVP award. He was two home-runs shy of 700 entering the game. All of that had Dodger Stadium rocking.
The BIG story tonight was Albert Pujols hitting home runs 699 and 700 in his second and third at-bats. Driving in five runs and bringing the crowd of 50,041 to a frenzy. Never in the history of Dodger Stadium have the hometown fans cheered so loud for an opposing player … TWICE!
7️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ #Pujols700 pic.twitter.com/XyddSFPpcQ
— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2022
The Cardinals went on to give the best team in baseball a good old-fashioned 11-0 shellacking. But who cares? Pujols was the story. He hit number 699 off of a 93-mph fastball from Heaney. An absolute bomb, high and deep into the left field pavilion. Sending a massive crowd of people toward the landing spot. In his next at-bat, he hit number 700. A no-doubter just to the left of the first one off of an 80-mph slider from reliever Phil Bickford. Again sending the crowd into sheer elation. He now becomes a member of one of the most elite clubs in baseball. That being the 700 home run hitters club.
The entire stadium was shaking as Pujols crossed the plate, and his team came out to swarm him. The game was delayed, and we all just stood in awe at what had just happened. What are the chances that he would hit number 699, let alone 700, in back-to-back plate appearances? Tonight all of baseball in this land belongs to Albert Pujols and that’s that!
Pujols is a big favorite in the city of Angels. Having played for both the Dodgers and Angels, the fans were rooting for him to get to 700 career home runs in Los Angeles. He faced left-handed pitcher Heaney and will continue to face lefty pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson, who will come right at him despite having a career total of 700 home runs. The sequence of pitches did not fail to find the plate the way it failed for the Boston Red Sox against New York Yankees outfielder and MLB home run leader Aaron Judge on Thursday night when it led to him walking three times, avoiding a career and historic milestone.
The Dodgers rested their starters, who remained ready to pinch hit. It was Freddie Freeman’s turn tonight, and while all eyes were on Pujols in his quest for 700 home runs, the Dodgers looked at Heaney to help figure out where he would fit on this pitching staff. If he is included in the Postseason roster, it will probably be in the bullpen for long relief duty. The way the brackets are set up, there is a chance that they could play the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Just prior to the game tonight, the Dodgers paid tribute to Pujols in a touching presentation that included best wishes from Mexico’s Julio Urías, fellow Dominican Hanser Alberto, Justin Turner, and Max Muncy. Then both Pujols and Yadier Molina, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, were brought to home plate and given retirement gifts by both Muncy and Turner. Albert then thanked the Dodger fans and organization, where he received an enormous ovation.