*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
On a Friday night under the Los Angeles lights, a milestone was set. Lars Nootbaar drove in a trio of runs, Albert Pujols homered twice to make history, and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 11-0 shutout victory on Friday night in Los Angeles.
After losing the first two games and the series against the San Diego Padres, the Cardinals won to salvage the final game of that series before heading to face the Dodgers. They won to start this series, marking their second straight win and 6th in 10 games. The Cardinals can clinch the NL Central Title as early as Sunday if a few things break their way.
But the big story lately for the Cardinals has been Pujols and his chase for 700 home runs. He entered Friday with 698, and homered two times to hit the 700 mark. He joins Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds as the only sluggers to ever reach the 700 home run mark in their careers.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said of Pujols reaching his milestone that "Him, by himself, no cameras, I just sat there and watched him a little bit. I’m not sure what was exactly going through his head, but he was taking it all in. He was crouched down and his hands were in his face. It wasn’t a part of the show and everything that was going on. It was him realizing all he had just accomplished, and it was pretty damn cool."
Pujols started the scoring in the 3rd inning, hitting career homer 699 to put the Cardinals ahead by a 2-0 score. One inning later, in the 4th, Pujols hit his 700th homer, a 3 run blast to make it a 5-0 lead for the Cardinals. In the 5th, an RBI double from Dylan Carlson and a two run home run from Nootbaar made it 8-0 Cardinals.
When the 7th inning came around, Juan Yepez extended the lead, making it a 9-0 game with a solo home run to left field. Nootbaar hit a single into center later in the inning, scoring Carlson to make it a 10-0 game. In the 8th inning, Alec Burleson hit his first career home run, a solo shot to right field, to make it 11-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
Asked about hitting 700 homers, Pujols said "What a special night. To have my family in town and to do it at Dodger Stadium. I said it earlier, my joy, pretty much, of this game came back last year and being in the postseason. It’s pretty special with the Dodgers fans here, and I get both sides of this. Get to enjoy this and I get to do it with a Cardinals uniform, which makes it even more special. I’m just thanking God."
Getting the start for the Cardinals was Jose Quintana. He picked up the win, allowing 5 hits while striking out 6 hitters in 6 2/3 shutout innings. Zack Thompson came on and pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings. Outfielder Corey Dickerson closed out the game with a scoreless 9th on the mound.
Andrew Heaney started for the Dodgers, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Phil Bickford pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, and was the pitcher who gave up the 700th homer by Pujols. Craig Kimbrel and Caleb Ferguson also pitched, and infielder Hanser Alberto, who threw two innings.
Bickford said of giving up the historic home run that "At first, I was upset, and then when the crowd reacted and seen all the smiles, it was a very special moment for MLB. Albert Pujols is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met."
Up next, the Cardinals and Dodgers continue their series on Saturday night. The Cardinals go for the series win with Jordan Montgomery getting the start, while Clayton Kershaw goes for the Dodgers.
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