In April, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols returned to the St. Louis Cardinals after leaving the team as a free agent in 2012.
Greeted by a hero's welcome since returning, the love-fest continued on Sunday after another memorable performance from the 42-year-old.
Pujols tallied career home runs number 688 and 689 on Sunday, helping lead the Cardinals to a 6-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Trailing 2-0 early, Pujols smashed an 0-1 slider from Brewers' starter Aaron Ashby over the wall to put the Cardinals on the board.
Number 688 and a curtain call for Albert Pujols! pic.twitter.com/0LXvVGjCCJ
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 14, 2022
Pujols' second homer of the day, a two-run shot that traveled 443 feet, put the Cardinals up for good in the eighth inning.
689*
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 14, 2022
Pujols is making a STATEMENT today, launching his second blast 443 feet
(via @Cardinals) pic.twitter.com/MKECz3tdTA
The multi-home run game was the 63rd of Pujols' career, tying him with Hall of Famer Willie Mays for fifth all-time in major league history.
63rd multi-homer game for Pujols, which ties Willie Mays for 5th all-time in MLB history.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) August 14, 2022
Pujols is 11 home runs away from 700. https://t.co/S9TGIsrxks
Creeping ever closer to the historic 700 home run mark, Pujols is now just 11 long-balls away.
Pujols is currently fifth on the all-time home run leaderboard, trailing only Alex Rodriguez (696), Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (714) and Henry Aaron (755), and Barry Bonds (762).
The 11-time All-Star is batting .243/.322/.425 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 65 games for St. Louis.
Sunday's victory helped the Cardinals pull further away from the Brewers in the race for the NL Central crown. St. Louis now leads Milwaukee by 1.5 games after taking two of three games during the weekend series.
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