Albert Pujols reached out and drove Drew Smyly’s high fastball through the night sky at Wrigley Field.
Just like that, it was over. Put Smyly on Pujols’ list.
Pujols hit career homer No. 693, Jordan Montgomery pitched a one-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Monday for their season-high eighth straight victory.
Pujols led off the seventh with a drive to left-center for his seventh homer in his last 10 games and No. 14 overall in his final big league season. There was a noticeable round of cheers from the crowd of 29,719 as the three-time NL MVP rounded the bases on his second hit of the night.
Pujols matched Barry Bonds’ major league record by homering off his 449th different pitcher. It was Pujols’ 940th multihit game, snapping a tie with Paul Waner for 10th on the career list.
Smyly (5-7) called it a tough way to lose, given the pitch was way out of the strike zone.
That one run was all Montgomery (7-3) needed. The left-hander struck out seven and walked none in his first career complete game, improving to 4-0 with a sparkling 0.35 ERA in four starts since he was acquired in an Aug. 2 trade with the New York Yankees.
Rookie Christopher Morel doubled with two out in the third for Chicago’s only hit. Morel hustled into third when shortstop Paul DeJong mishandled the relay from left fielder Tyler O’Neill. But Montgomery retired Nick Madrigal on a grounder to DeJong, ending the inning.
Montgomery threw 99 pitches for the NL Central leaders in the opener of a five-game series, 65 for strikes.
Chicago wasted a sharp performance by Smyly (5-7) in its second straight loss after a five-game win streak. The lefty allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in seven innings.
UP NEXT
The teams play a split doubleheader today. Adam Wainwright (9-8, 3.11 ERA) starts the opener for St. Louis, and Jake Woodford (2-0, 2.66 ERA) takes the mound for the second game. Javier Assad makes his major league debut for Chicago in Game 1, and Adrian Sampson (1-3, 3.51 ERA) gets the ball for the nightcap.