June 3, 2017

Albert Pujols hit a grand slam home run in the 4th inning, which was his 600th career long ball, as the Angels defeated the Twins 7-2 on Saturday night at the Big A.

Pujols became the 9th player in major league history to join the 600 home run club.  The 37-year-old clubbed a low pitch from former Angel Ervin Santana inside the left field foul pole, for his 14th career grand slam.  That made it 7-1 Angels, which was all the scoring they would need on this historic night in Anaheim.

The future hall of famer credited his wife, Deidre, for helping him relax and meet the moment.  She sent him a text of encouragement during the game.  “I’m glad I listen to her one in a while,” Pujols said with a smile. “At a moment like this, I always start putting pressure on myself. Usually she’ll give me some encouragement. It was just a perfect time to check my phone, and I’m glad I did.”

The Angels also got home runs from Andrelton Simmons and Kole Calhoun in the 3rd inning.  Matt Shoemaker improved to 5-3 on the season, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Max Kepler had an RBI single in the 3rd inning, and a solo home run in the 6th inning, which accounted for all of the Twins’ runs.

Santana (7-3) took the loss, giving up 7 runs on 7 hits, over 4 innings of work.  He made 82 pitches on the night.

The series finale will be on Sunday afternoon at the Big A.   Ricky Nolasco (2-5, 5.07 ERA) faces the Twins for the first time since they traded him last season.  Jose Berrios (3-1, 2.70 ERA) makes his fifth start of the season for Minnesota.