The Last Game in Miami for Albert Pujols is Spoiled as the Miami Marlins Shutout the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0
Albert Pujols is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have ever laced up a pair of baseball cleats. With 681 home runs, and a full season left to play, Pujols sits fifth on the all-time home runs list. Having announced that this will be his final season, Thursday night likely marked the last time that Pujols will ever play in Miami as the Cardinals will not return to LoanDepot Park for the rest of the year.
Everyone in the crowd was on their feet each time the Cardinals slugger approached the plate. They waited on edge for Pujols to pummel one past the fence. Even some Marlins fans silently hoped to see him send one more ball soaring to the upper decks, especially once Miami took a comfortable 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The 42-year-old Pujols took the plate three times on Thursday night. He never managed a hit, let alone a home run. Miami Marlins right-handed ace, Pablo Lopez, was lights out for all seven innings that he pitched. He totaled nine strikeouts, including three against the mighty Pujols.
Lopez allowed only three hits on the way to earning the shutout win. It was sweet revenge for the Marlins after having pitcher Sandy Alcantara’s eight scoreless innings go to waste the night before when Cardinals third baseman, Nolan Arenado, knocked in a ninth inning homer to steal the game. The Marlins were able to ignite their offense in Thursday’s win off the bats of Jesús Sánchez and Jazz Chisholm, who both homered in the game.
St. Louis just couldn’t get anything going against the crafty Lopez and the stingy Marlins fielding. The Cardinals don’t have much to hang their heads about though, as they took two of three games against the Marlins in this week’s series and sit at 7-4 overall.
Although the retiring Albert Pujols was unable to light up the scoreboard on Thursday, expect him to add to his home run total this year during his victory lap. He trails only 15 long-balls behind the 4th place slugger on the all-time list, former Seattle Mariners and New York Yankee player Alex Rodriguez. Pujols, hailing from the Dominican Republic, will have about 150 more games to add to his already historic total and try to leap Rodriguez. In addition to his 681 home runs, he has amassed 3,308 hits, 2,154 RBIs, has been named NL MVP three times, and is a two-time World Series Champion.
While his illustrious career is coming to a close, the Cardinals grizzled veteran still seems to have some gas left in the tank. The baseball world will be watching whenever he takes the batter’s box for the rest of the season, hoping to witness a little more magic from the living legend.
