Pujols joins 3K club
Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols got his 3,000th hit, reaching the mark with a broken-bat single Friday night against Seattle and becoming the 32nd player in major league history to join the exclusive club.
Pujols dumped the single into shallow right field in the fifth inning against Mike Leake. It came on Pujols’ sixth attempt after getting to 2,999 a day earlier.
Pujols, 38, received a standing ovation from the crowd at Safeco Field and was given the baseball and first base as a memento. His teammates all greeted him on the field before action resumed. The Angels won the game 5-0, and Pujols collected hit No. 3,001 in the ninth inning with a two-run single.
“I was really excited, but at the same time you still have a game you need to play and you still need to focus to win that game,” Pujols said. “That’s what I told those guys. Let’s go win that game so it can taste a little better with a win.”
Pujols joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the only players in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 homers. In yesterday’s games: Yankees 5, Indians 2 — Shortstop Francisco Lindor’s double error led to a pair of runs in a four-run fifth inning off previously unhittable Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray won for the first time in a month and host New York topped Cleveland for its 14th win in 15 games.
New York is in its first 14-1 stretch since the 1998 Yankees won 114 games during the regular season and then the first of three straight World Series titles.
Tigers 3, Royals 2 — Jordan Zimmermann allowed two hits over five scoreless innings, Nicholas Castellanos had three extra-base hits and visiting Detroit edged Kansas City.
Twins 8, White Sox 4 — Eddie Rosario homered and drove in five runs, Lance Lynn earned his first AL win and visiting Minnesota bested Chicago.
Rays 5, Blue Jays 3 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Denard Span drove in his teamleading 24th run to help surging Tampa Bay topple Toronto.
National League
Padres 7, Dodgers 4 — San Diego rebounded nicely from Los Angeles’ combined no-hitter, using two-run homers by Eric Hosmer and Raffy Lopez to beat the Dodgers in the first major league series in Mexico since 1999.
A day after the first nohitter ever outside the U.S. or Canada, Travis Jankowski led off the first with a triple for San Diego’s first hit of the series. Hosmer then hit a drive over the wall in right against Kenta Maeda in Monterrey.
Cardinals 8, Cubs 6 — Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, as host St. Louis rallied past Chicago.
Giants 11, Braves 2 — Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen each had three hits and hot-hitting San Francisco rolled over host Atlanta.
Rockies 2, Mets 0 — Chad Bettis pitched seven smooth innings, Nolan Arenado homered early off the big apple at Citi Field, and Colorado shut down slumping New York.
Phillies 3, Nationals 1 — Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, Vince Velasquez pitched five effective innings and visiting Philadelphia snapped Washington’s six-game win streak.
Brewers 5, Pirates 3 — Ryan Braun hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning, helping host Milwaukee pop Pittsburgh.
Marlins 6, Reds 0 — Starlin Castro drove in three runs with a homer and a double, backing another strong performance by Caleb Smith, and visiting Miami blanked Cincinnati.