LOS ANGELES -- St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols belted the 696th home run of his career on Saturday to join Alex Rodriguez at fourth on Major League Baseball's all-time list.
The 42-year-old, who has announced that this season will be his last, now has 17 home runs in 2022 and a chance to become just the fourth player in MLB history to reach 700 for a career.
Barry Bonds tops the all-time list with 762, followed by Hank Aaron's 755 and Babe Ruth's 714.
The Cardinals trailed the Pirates 3-1 in Pittsburgh when Pujols crushed a first-pitch slider from JT Brubaker 418 feet (127 meters) into the left-field bleachers.
The two-run blast helped the Cardinals rally to a 7-5 victory.
Pujols' eighth-inning single -- his third hit of the game -- erased another Pirates lead after Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz homered in the seventh.
Pujols has 22 regular-season games remaining to chase the 700 mark.
The player from the Dominican Republic inked a one-year deal with the Cardinals earlier this year.
He had starred for 11 seasons in St. Louis before signing a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, where he stayed until a brief spell with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.
The Cardinals have an eight-game lead over Milwaukee in the National League's Central Division.
Agence France-Presse
