Albert Pujols cements place in history with HR No. 697

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Albert Pujols hit his 697th home run, moving past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the career list and doing it in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning drive that pushed the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Sunday. The NL Central-leading Cardinals trailed 2-1 when Pujols connected for a two-run shot. He trails Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time homer chart. The 42-year-old Pujols has 21 games left in his 22nd and final season in the big leagues. The Cardinals went to the ninth inning trailing 2-0 but scored four runs off Chase DeJong (4-2). Tommy Edman and Corey Dickerson led off with back-to-back doubles to produce the first run. One out after Pujols connected, Tyler O’Neil hit a solo shot to cap St. Louis’ big inning. Ryan Helsley then got Ben Gamel to fly out for his 16th save. Chris Stratton (8-4) retired both batters he faced. DODGERS 11, PADRES 2 SAN DIEGO (AP) – Justin Turner hit a grand slam and a solo homer for Los Angeles, which emphatically became the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season by beating rival San Diego. Los Angeles, with the best record in the majors at 96-43, sealed a playoff berth for the 10th straight season. The Dodgers’ magic number to win the NL West is two. Max Muncy hit a go-ahead, two-run, bases-loaded single in the sixth inning and Chris Taylor and Trea Turner also homered for the Dodgers, who won their eighth straight series against the Padres dating to June 2021. Padres All-Star right-hander Joe Musgrove (9-7) had a 2-0 lead after three innings before Justin Turner homered to left with one out in the fifth and Taylor homered to center with two outs. Andrew Heaney (3-2) allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two. MARINERS 8, BRAVES 7 SEATTLE (AP) – Julio Rodriguez and Eugenio Suarez each hit their second home run of the game, connecting in the ninth inning and rallying Seattle over Atlanta. The Braves trailed 6-2 going into the ninth, but Michael Harris II and Robbie Grossman hit two-out homers during a five-run comeback. Down 7-6, the Mariners tied it when Rodriguez hit his 25th home run with one out off Kenley Jansen (5-2). With two outs, Suarez hit his 30th homer to win it. The Mariners moved into a tie with Tampa Bay for the top AL wild-card spot, and Atlanta fell to 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East. ASTROS 12, ANGELS 4 HOUSTON (AP) – Alex Bregman and Trey Mancini hit two of Houston’s five home runs, and the AL West-leading Astros beat Los Angeles for their 90th win of the season. Trailing 3-0, the Astros rallied for five runs in the third. Mauricio Dubón led off the inning with a solo home run, and after Tucker Davidson (2-6) hit Yordan Alvarez to load the bases, Davidson was replaced by Mike Mayers, who Bregman greeted with his grand slam to right-center. Shohei Ohtani hit his 34th home run of the season in the first, a two-run shot to right. Mike Trout, who has homered in a club record six straight games, was given the day off. Luis Garcia (12-8) allowed three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in five innings. METS 9, MARLINS 3 MIAMI (AP) – Brandon Nimmo homered, doubled and walked twice to help New York top Miami and maintain its slim lead atop the NL East. Tómas Nido had three hits and drove in three runs for the Mets. Pitcher Max Scherzer, who is on the injured list but accompanied the team to Florida, was ejected by second base umpire Chad Fairchild after Nimmo had a triple negated in the first at-bat of the game. Taijuan Walker (11-4) won his fourth decision against the Marlins this season, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander scattered five hits and struck out 10.