Cardinals slugger Pujols joins elite 700-homer club
St Louis slugger Albert Pujols became just the fourth Major League Baseball player to hit 700 home runs on Friday, with two homers in the first four innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 42-year-old Dominican, playing in what he says is his final season, joined Barry Bonds (762 home runs), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) as the only players to reach the milestone. Pujols, who had hit his 698th career homer in a win over Cincinnati last Friday, hit No. 699 off Dodgers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney in the third inning – a 434-foot two-run blast to left-field that gave St Louis a 2-0 lead. Pujols came to the plate again in the next inning with two runners on base. With left-hander Heaney replaced by right-handed reliever Phil Bickford on the mound, the result was the same. Pujols smacked another ball into Dodger Stadium's left-field bleachers to make it 5-0. Pujols now has 21 home runs this season, 14 of them coming since August 10. Earlier this month, he passed former Yankees great Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on MLB's career homers list with his 697th. (AFP)