Los Angeles Angels INF/DH Albert Pujols reached another milestone in his 19th MLB season with hit number 3,167 during the 4th inning of the Angels’ Wednesday night contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates. His RBI single against Pittsburgh SP Chris Archer allowed him to pass retired INF Adrián Beltré‘s total of 3,166 hits over 21 seasons and take over sole possession of 16th place on the all-time MLB hits leaderboard.
Beltré, who was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was the previous hits leader among MLB players not born in the United States. This means Pujols, also born in Santo Domingo, is the new hits king among non-American-born players.
Pujols went on to record another single in the 8th inning against rookie Pirates RP Geoff Hartlieb to drive in the first two out of three runs scored in the inning, breaking the game open in the Angels’ 7-4 victory over the Bucs. He would go on to score on a single by INF Luis Rengifo.
No other active player has over 3,000 hits. INF/DH Miguel Cabrera and INF Robinson Canó are the only two other active players ranked in the top 100 on the hits leaderboard. Cabrera is ranked at 52 with 2,786 hits, and Canó is ranked at 93 with 2,552 hits.
Next up for Pujols is Hall of Fame INF Cal Ripken, who is ranked 15th with 3,184 hits over 21 seasons.
The Angels close out their homestand with four games against the White Sox starting at 10:07 PM tonight. Matchup: Reynaldo López (7-9, 5.16 ERA) vs. Andrew Heaney (1-3, 4.89 ERA). Support the site by purchasing your tickets from SeatGeek!
Featured Image: Keeton Gale / Shutterstock.com
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