ST. LOUIS — Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt made some career history Tuesday night at Busch Stadium against the Washington Nationals.
Goldschmidt launched a first-inning home run off Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg for the 250th homer of his career, and his first of the 2021 season.
Goldschmidt became the ninth player to hit home run No. 250 in a Cardinals uniform, joining Stan Musial, Ken Boyer, Orlando Cepeda, Jim Edmonds, Reggie Sanders, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Matt Holliday.
The Cardinals' first baseman is 13th among baseball's active home run leaders, 20 behind Ryan Zimmerman, who is 12th. Goldschmidt's teammate, Nolan Arenado, is 18th on the active home run list.
Coming into Tuesday's game, Goldschmidt co-led MLB with San Diego's Manny Machado with 22 hard-hit batted balls (95-plus mph exit velocity) this season and ranked third in hard-hit percentage in baseball.