St. Louis Cardinals Eliminated by Philadelphia Phillies in Wild-Card Round

Pujols had done the same in the eighth, singling and leaving for a pinch-runner, hoping that a teammate could do the rest. That time the Cardinals’ best players, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, both fanned against Seranthony Domínguez. In the ninth, Tommy Edman popped out to third to end the game. Pujols did not linger long in the dugout.

“I just kind of took a moment, maybe less than 15 seconds, and walked in the clubhouse,” Pujols said. “There’s nothing to be sad about. It’s part of the game in baseball. I’ve been on the other side, too, where you celebrate and win. I’d rather be on that side than this side, but it wasn’t meant to be for us this year.”

Pujols, 42, did his best. He reached the All-Star break with a .215 average and six home runs, not surprising from the oldest player in the majors. In the second half, though, Pujols surged to .323 with 18 home runs. He finished with 703 career homers — trailing Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth — and only Aaron ever drove in more runs.

“I’ve never seen anything like that, what I saw this year with him, with any player,” Arenado said. “I’m just in awe of his presence and the way he goes about his business. Never seen a harder worker at that age.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/sports/baseball/albert-pujols-yadier-molina-cardinals.html