PUJOLS REACHES 1,000 RBIS FOR CAREER

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols cranked a long grand slam homer in the seventh inning of a recent 8-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium to drive in the 1,000th run of his Major League career.

Now in his ninth MLB season, Pujols crushed a 441-foot bomb off Cubs right-hander David Patton to move past Ken Boyer into fifth place on the Cardinals’ all-time ribbie list and becoming the 23rd active player to reach the four-figure mark for runs driven in. He is the second player to reach that plateau this year, following Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets.

A two-time National League Most Valuable Player (and the reigning MVP), Pujols becomes only the 30th player in Major League history to reach 1,000 RBIs before his 30th birthday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he ranks 14th all-time and second among active players, behind only the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez, in terms of being the fastest batter to reach 1,000.