As Albert Pujols continues to climb the all-time home run list during his farewell season, he’s also setting major league records in the process.
On Monday night in Cincinnati, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger hit career home run No. 694, and it came against a 450th different pitcher, a big league record.
This time, it was Reds reliever Ross Detwiler who was on the wrong end of a Pujols drive. He lined a 369-foot, two-run homer to right field in the third inning, giving St. Louis an 8-0 lead and breaking a tie with Barry Bonds. The Cardinals won the game, 13-4.
ALBERT!!! pic.twitter.com/NwkaOrQK3q
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 30, 2022
It continued a remarkable run for the 42-year-old Pujols, who has eight home runs in August alone, tying Bonds (April 2007) and Carl Yastrzemski (July 1983) for the most in a single month by a player aged 42 or older. It’s the most home runs Pujols has hit in a single calendar month since June 2015, when he hit 13.
He had just seven from April through July this season.
It was also his 134th career home run in August, Pujols’ most prolific month. He broke a tie with Alex Rodriguez for second behind Bonds’ 148.
Pujols is now just two home runs shy of tying Rodriguez for fourth on the all-time list (696). Bonds leads the list with 762, followed by Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Rodriguez.
He has reached 15 home runs in a season for the 21st time in his career, which ties Bonds for the most in major league history.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.