Albert Pujols blasted two more homers, pushing his career total to 692 and helping St. Louis beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-7.
With the first homer, Pujols passed fellow Cardinals icon Stan Musial for No. 2 in total bases in major league history and now has 6,143. Hank Aaron is No. 1 with 6,856.
It was a vintage night for the 42-year-old Pujols, who continues to hit like a man at least a decade younger. The 11-time All-Star hit solo homers in the second and fourth off D-backs lefty Madison Bumgarner, both to almost the same spot in the left-center seats.
He nearly hit a third homer, scorching a single off the base of the left field wall in the sixth. He capped his 4-for-4 night with a ground ball single through the left side of the infield in the seventh.
Pujols could have had five hits, but Marmol elected to pinch hit rookie Nolan Gorman in the ninth.
Pujols needs four more homers to tie Alex Rodriguez for No. 4 all-time. He’s been on a roll over the past month, batting .386 with five homers over his past 16 games coming into Saturday.
St. Louis had an 8-4 lead going into the eighth but the D-backs rallied for three runs off reliever Jordan Hicks. Giovanny Gallegos was able to get out of the jam and the Cardinals tacked on eight insurance runs in the ninth, capped by Paul DeJong’s grand slam and Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run shot.
The Cardinals have won six straight games and 15 of their past 18.
Lars Nootbaar’s two-run triple in the sixth pushed the Cardinals ahead 7-4. Nootbaar also scored on the play, scampering home after right fielder Daulton Varsho bobbled the ball in the corner.
The Diamondbacks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on Christian Walker’s sacrifice fly and Carson Kelly’s RBI single that dropped just in front of a diving Nootbaar in right field.
Kelly finished with two hits and three RBIs. Jake McCarthy had a solo homer. Bumgarner (6-13) gave up five runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.
St. Louis starting pitcher Dakota Hudson gave up four runs over 4 1/3 innings. Genesis Cabrera (4-2) got the win in relief.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their three-game series on Sunday. The D-backs will pitch RHP Merrill Kelly (10-5, 2.81 ERA) while the Cardinals counter with LHP Jose Quintana (4-5, 3.38). Game time is at 3:10 p.m.