TORONTO (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and finished with three hits, passing Rogers Hornsby on St. Louis’ career list, and the Cardinals stopped Toronto’s seven-game win streak with a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
Adam Wainwright pitched seven sparkling innings to help St. Louis earn a split of the two-game set while playing without unvaccinated sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Nolan Gorman homered, and Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar each hit an RBI double.
Foreign nationals who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 are not allowed to enter Canada, save for limited exceptions that require a 14-day quarantine. Unvaccinated baseball players are placed on the restricted list, where they are not paid and do not accrue major league service time.
Goldschmidt, Arenado, and catcher Austin Romine, who all went on the restricted list Tuesday, will be eligible to return when the Cardinals begin a three-game series at Washington on Friday.
Facing Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman, Pujols singled in the second and doubled in the fourth. The hits were his 2,110th and 2,111th with the Cardinals, moving him past Hornsby for fourth-most in franchise history.
“That’s what you’re hoping for, is him to step up and be able to carry us at a time when we didn’t have Goldy and Nolan, and he did exactly that,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He knew what was on the line and that we were going to have to depend on him.”
Gausman left after walking Tyler O’Neill in the fifth and Pujols greeted Trevor Richards with his seventh homer of the season and No. 686 for his career. Pujols ranks fifth on baseball’s homer list, 10 behind Alex Rodriguez.
“He’s unbelievable,” Wainwright said of Pujols. “He might be old but he can still hit.”
An 11-time…