Pujols honored pregame, then slugs 702nd HR

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit his 702nd career homer in the third inning of Sunday’s 7-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in St. Louis.

Pujols drove a 0-1 pitch from Roansy Contreras deep to center for a solo shot.

The 42-year-old Pujols is now fourth on the career home run list behind Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762). The slugger has 23 homers in what he says will be his final season.

Pujols hit a two-run double in the first inning. He has 2,214 career RBIs, which ranks second all time behind Aaron’s 2,297; Ruth unofficially drove in 2,214 runs as well but many were not counted because the statistic was not recognized by baseball until 1920.

Pujols and catcher Yadier Molina, who also is retiring, were honored in a 46-minute ceremony before their final regular-season home game.

The pair was given gifts from the team, including a set of golf clubs, a silver plate and one-of-a-kind artist drawings of each player. The two have a combined 41 years in the majors. Former teammates Matt Holiday, Ray Lankord and Jason Isringhausen were present for the ceremony.

Sunday marked the last game Adam Wainwright, Pujols and Molina will appear together as Cardinals teammates. The trio had its first game together on Sept. 11, 2005. According to the Elias Sports Bureau research, it’s the first trio in major league history to have its first game and final game together be over 6,000 days apart.

Molina, Pujols and Wainwright were all removed from the game together so they could walk off as a trio with two outs in the fifth. Wainwright (11-12), who allowed six runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, has yet to decide if he will come back next season.

The Cardinals, who have clinched their fifth NL Central title in the last 10 years, closed the regular-season with 26 wins in their last 34 home games.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.