Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols achieved yet another milestone (or two) in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, taking sole possession of 16th place on the all-time home runs list and tying Manny Ramirez for 14th place (1,122) on the all-time extra-base hits list, per Sportsnet Stats.
Pujols entered the game even with New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle at 536 career home runs, and it appeared he'd have to wait at least another day to break the tie.
But, after managing just a lone single through his first four at-bats of the night, Pujols hit a two-run blast to left field—the 537th home run of his career—off Rays pitcher Preston Guilmet with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
The homer extended the Angels' lead to 6-2, but it did rob closer Huston Street of the opportunity to pick up his 18th save of the season.
In any case, Pujols is arguably the hottest hitter in all of baseball, with nine home runs, 15 RBI and 13 runs in his last 13 games.
Despite starting the season slow, he's now on pace for 46 home runs, 86 RBI and 89 runs, to go along with a .267/.318/.534 batting line.
While the runs and RBI aren't overly impressive, it's not Pujols' fault that he and outfielder Mike Trout are the only Angels batters enjoying above-average seasons. No other regular has an OPS above .724 (third baseman David Freese) or an on-base percentage above .337 (second baseman Johnny Giavotella).
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