ALBERT Pujols hit his 695th career homer, a two-run blast in the eighth inning, to lift the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
Pujols’ homer carried 429 feet over the left field bullpen. He is now one behind Alex Rodriguez (696) for fourth place on baseball’s all-time home-run list.
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (11-10) blanked the Cubs for eight innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out three and walked one. Ryan Helsley closed out the game for his 13th save as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in their last eight games.
Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman threw seven scoreless innings while holding the Cardinals to four hits. He struck out five batters and walked none. Brandon Hughes (2-2) relieved Stroman for the eighth inning and allowed a one-out double to Tommy Edman before surrendering Pujols’ blast.
In other games, it was the Yankees 2, Rays 1; Mariners 6, Guardians 3 (11 innings); Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 1; Braves 7, Marlins 1; Blue Jays 4, Pirates 3; Nationals 7, Mets 1; Twins 5, White Sox 1; Astros 9, Angels 1; Giants 5, Phillies 3; Dodgers 9, Padres 4; Rockies 8, Reds 4 (Game 1); Reds 10, Rockies 0 (Game 2); Athletics 5, Orioles 0; Red Sox 5, Rangers 2; and Royals 3, Tigers 2.
Yankees 2, Rays 1
Aaron Judge hit his 53rd homer two pitches into the game and scored a run in the seventh inning as New York held on for a victory over Tampa Bay at St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Yankees ended an underwhelming 4-6 road trip and head back to New York with a five-game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East. Frankie Montas (5-11) pitched five innings for his first win since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline. He allowed one hit, struck out seven, walked none and worked around two errors.
New York had just three runs in the series, with Judge involved in all of them after also hitting a home run on Saturday. On Sunday, he hit a 450-foot homer off Tampa Bay opener Shawn Armstrong (2-2), had three hits and scored on a sacrifice fly by rookie Oswaldo Cabrera in the seventh.
