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May 15, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Albert Pujols (5) stands on the mound after giving up a three run home run to San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Luis Gonzalez (51) during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had some fun at Albert Pujols’ expense over his first career pitching performance.
You know Sunday Night Baseball got weird when Pujols is on the mound. Surely this is an alternate reality, no?
In the same game when Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina broke the record for most wins in pitcher-catcher battery history, the Giants were closed out by Pujols. The iconic duo of Pujols and Molina led the Cards to two World Series (Wainwright only won one in 2006), so it’s only right that Pujols played such a critical role in getting the final outs.
Yet, despite the three outs he picked up, Pujols did struggle a bit, giving up three hits and four earned runs. His career ERA is now 36.00. Yikes.
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright pokes fun at Albert Pujols
In Pujols first and likely last attempt at pitching at the MLB level, he wasn’t all that successful. Wainwright made sure to let his longtime teammate know that via social media.
The 36.00 ERA looks…well, not great. But keep in mind Pujols was doing this for fun, and because the Cardinals had a double-digit lead at the time. It’s truly the only time a team would let a position player pitch. St. Louis didn’t want to waste a bullpen arm.
Pitching Pujols allowed them to do just that, and it also led to an interesting piece of future baseball trivia.