Tag Archives: Madison Bumgarner

Albert Pujols Homers Twice to Move Up to Second on MLB’s Career List for Total Bases

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Albert Pujols has moved up a spot…

The 42-year-old Dominican–American professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals hit two more home runs on Saturday night, boosting his total to 692 and moving him past Stan Musial into second place on the career list for total bases.

Albert Pujols,Pujols connected for solo homers in the second and fourth innings against Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner to help St. Louis win 16-7.

Pujols nearly hit a third homer, scorching a single off the base of the left field wall in the fifth. He capped his 4-for-4 night with a ground ball single through the left side of the infield in the seventh.

Pujols needs four more home runs to tie Alex Rodriguez for the No. 4 spot all-time.

“Listen to the names that we’re talking about, man,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Pujols could have had five hits, but Marmol elected to pinch hit rookie Nolan Gorman in the ninth. Nobody was cheering louder than Pujols when Gorman singled.

“That’s what you’re supposed to do in baseball, have fun,” Pujols said. “When you don’t have fun, you put too much stress on yourself. It’s a great group of guys here, so it’s pretty awesome.”

With his first homer of the game, Pujols passed Musial. The future MLB Hall of Famer now sits at 6,143 career total bases; Hank Aaron holds the record with 6,856.

Pujols has been on a roll over the past month, batting .386 with five homers over his past 16 games coming into Saturday.

The 11-time MLB All-Star drew a standing ovation before his first at-bat, and the cheers grew even louder from both Cardinals and Diamondbacks fans as the three-time MVP rounded the bases.

The slugger says this is his last season. Just a few weeks ago, 700 career homers looked out of reach, but the way he’s swinging the bat, it appears very much in play.

“That’s the hard work I put in day in and day out,” Pujols said. “Nothing surprises me.”

Arrieta Homers Against the San Francisco Giants to Help the Cubs Make MLB History

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He may be an all-star pitcher, but Jake Arrieta has batted his way into the headlines.

The Chicago Cubs became the second team in history to have two pitchers hit home runs in a postseason series when Arrieta took San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner deep in the second inning of Monday night’s Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Jake Arrieta

The 30-year-old part-Puerto Rican baseball star hit a 1-2 pitch out to left field for a three-run home run, two days after Cubs relief pitcher Travis Wood homered against the Giants in Game 2.

It’s the first time since the 1924 Giants that two pitchers from the same team have gone deep in a playoff series; 1924 also was the last time a relief pitcher hit a home run in the postseason.

“It was probably the best pitch I threw to (Arrieta) in the at-bat,” Bumgarner told the Chicago Tribune. “I was thinking about going to the breaking ball, but the way it looked to me, I didn’t see any need to. Sometimes you feel like you can help a guy out by slowing it down. But from what I saw, I felt like I was making the right pitch. He just made a good adjustment.”

Arrieta’s homer gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead, but the Giants battled back and eventually prevailed 6-5 in 13 innings in a game that lasted more than five hours. The San Francisco victory prevented a Cubs sweep.

Arrieta is the fourth Cubs pitcher to hit a home run in the playoffs, while Bumgarner gave up his first long ball to an opposing pitcher in his seven-plus major league seasons. It also ended Bumgarner’s 24-inning postseason scoreless streak and his separate streak of 24 shutout innings with the Giants facing postseason elimination.

It was Arrieta’s fifth career home run and third this season.

Quintana Named to American League All-Star Team

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It’s a special first for Jose Quintana…

The 27-year-old Colombian professional baseball player, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, has replaced the Cleveland Indians‘ Danny Salazar on the American League All-Star roster.

Jose Quintana

A first-time All-Star, Quintana is 7-8 with a 3.21 ERA, sixth in the AL at the start of Sunday. He joins teammate Chris Sale on the AL roster.

Kansas City‘s Wade Davis, Boston‘s Craig Kimbrel and Toronto‘s Marco Estrada also were dropped from the AL pitching staff because of injuries, and Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez were added.

In the National League, Los Angeles‘ Clayton Kershaw and New York‘s Noah Syndergaard got hurt and won’t pitch, along with Stephen Strasburg, who just came off the disabled list, and San Francisco‘s Madison Bumgarner, who starts Sunday. New York’s Bartolo Colon, San Diego‘s Drew Pomeranz and Washington‘s Max Scherzer were added.

In the infield, Aledmys Diaz replaced St. Louis teammate Matt Carpente. In the outfield, Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce and Pittsburgh‘s Starling Marte replaced the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes and Chicago‘s Dexter Fowler.

Miami‘s Marcell Ozuna and Colorado‘s Carlos Gonzalez entered the starting lineup in place of Cespedes and Fowler.