In his final regular season Busch Stadium at-bat, Pujols homers to tie Babe Ruth on MLB all-time RBI list

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) - Not long after the Cardinals presented two of their franchise icons with gifts in a pre-game ceremony ahead of the final game at Busch Stadium of their illustrious careers, Albert Pujols showed once again that he is the gift that keeps on giving.

In the third inning of Sunday’s game between the Cardinals and Pirates, Pujols gave Busch Stadium yet another thrill, sending a fly ball deep to straightaway center field and onto the same grassy knoll that David Freese once famously occupied. Home run No. 702 in the incredible career of Albert Pujols sent the crowd into a frenzy.

After he finished rounding the bases and disappeared into the dugout, Cardinals fans simply would not settle for anything less than what may go down as one final curtain call for No. 5.

Earlier in the game, Pujols had a ground-rule double that plated two runs and brought him a step closer to more history. The solo shot in the third went for career RBI No. 2,214, tying Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time MLB RBIs leaderboard. The home run ended up being Pujols’ final at-bat of the day.

During a mound visit with starter Adam Wainwright in the fifth inning, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol gave hugs to Pujols and catcher Yadier Molina, a signal of the ovation that was about to ensue.

Wainwright, Pujols and Molina walked off the field together, leaving the game at the same time--on the day of the last time they would ever play together for the Cardinals in a regular-season game at Busch.

Of course, the chance to make more memories in this ballpark starts on Friday when the Cardinals host the Wild Card Series.

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