Albert Pujols Wins Game with Pinch Hit Bomb
September 5, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Baseball
On Sunday, Albert Pujols had the day off — or so the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped. In the tenth inning, Pujols hit a pinch-hit blast off of Matt Capps to put the St. Louis Cardinals up 2-1. Ryan Franklin closed it out in the bottom of the tenth to pick up his 37th save of the season.
Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals (Image: Zuma Press)
That the homer came off of Capps is significant. The last time Pujols faced Capps, the reliever was ejected for hitting Pujols in the ribs with a fastball. However, Pujols said that it wasn’t a matter of revenge.
Said Pujols: “Not revenge. What I’m trying to do there is get on base and try to help my team win a game.”
With the win, the Cardinals are now sitting at 81-56. They are all but guaranteed a spot in the 2009 baseball playoffs. And if Pujols, who is hitting .321 with 44 homers and 117 RBIs, keeps hitting the way he is the sky is the limit for St. Louis.
