ST. LOUIS — On May 15, 2022, Albert Pujols took the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals, a first in his career.
The Cardinals legend took the mound in the ninth inning with the Cardinals leading 15-2 against the San Francisco Giants.
Note: The above video is from May 2022
Pujols was the team's designated hitter in the game and had already gone 2 for 3 with two walks.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol moved Pujols to the mound to pitch the ninth inning in the blowout game.
The first batter he faced, Darin Ruf, was walked on five pitches. The second batter, Austin Slater, lined out to center for the first out of the inning.
The third batter, Evan Longoria, came up next to face Pujols. He hit a line drive single to left field and he had the Cardinals throw the ball he hit out of the game, a memento of his single off Pujols.
A hit off of the bat of Thairo Estrada was only good to force the out at second base, then trouble came.
Pujols gave up a three-run home run to Luis Gonzalez, a position player who pitched the eighth inning for the Giants. Giants catcher Joey Bart then hit a solo home run.
The third and final out of the inning was when LaMonte Wade Jr. grounded out to Brendan Donovan. The Cardinals ended up winning 15-6.
In his first, and only, outing as a pitcher, Pujols owns a career ERA of 36.00.
"They were looking and I was like, 'Hey I'll do it why not.' It was a dream come true. Now I can say that I did it. And it was fun. It wasn't fun giving up two bombs, but I think the fans had a good time and I'm sure the guys that took me deep did, too," Pujols said after the game.
Pujols pitching was one of the most memorable moments, amongst the chase to 700 home runs, in his final year.
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