Albert Pujols becomes third youngest to reach 400 home runs
Albert Pujols became the third-youngest player in MLB history yesterday to hit 400 career home runs as his St Louis Cardinals lost in extra-innings to the Washington Nationals yesterday.
Pujols hit the home run off of Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, who was starting in place of the injured Stephen Strasburg, sending the ball to right-centre field on an 0-1 fastball. That home run made Pujols just the 47th player to reach the 400 mark.
The 30-year-old became the third-youngest player - behind Alex Rodriguez, who did it at 29 years, 316 days, and Ken Griffey Jr, who reached the milestone at 30 years, 141 days – to reach the milestone but the slugger says he isn’t overly concerned with numbers.
“It's a special milestone but I don't play for numbers,” the first baseman said after the game. He did however look further into the future. "Maybe one day [I] have the opportunity to be in Cooperstown,” he added.
Of more importance to Pujols is his ankle which he twisted trying to climb a rolled-up tarp to grab a foul ball in the 10th inning.
"It's pretty sore right now, it was pretty scary. I tried to put my right leg on top of the tarp and slipped,” Pujols said when asked about the incident. "It was never comfortable, I was sore. I stayed in the game sore. I know it was going to take more than that to take me out of the game. I knew my team needed me out there."
Despite staying in the game Pujols couldn’t prevent his Cardinals from losing in the 13th inning 11-10 to the last place Nationals, and if the Cardinals struggle to beat last placed teams like the Nationals, their four game deficit to the Cincinnati Reds could well become much bigger – especially if Pujols misses time with his ankle injury.
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