St. Louis, MO- Of course, it was Albert Pujols. With the game tied 2-2 and runners on first and second, in the bottom of the tenth, Pujols came up to bat. After Tommy Edman stole third base, Pujols hit a hard line drive to left field allowing the speedy Edman to score on a sac-fly and the St. Louis Cardinals (28-21) earned the 3-2 win in walk-off fashion over the San Diego Padres (30-19).
The walk-off from Pujols was the cherry on top of an excellent night at the ballpark for the legendary first baseman. He might have gone just 1-3 with a single but drove in a pair of runs including the game-winner with sacrifice flys.
Pujols was not the only Cardinals veteran who showed out on Tuesday at Busch Stadium. Veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright looked very sharp yet again.
Wainwright at the spry age of 40 seems to have Father Time in a chokehold as he just won’t slow down. On Tuesday he pitched seven innings, allowing just two hits, no runs, walked one, and struck out 10. The 10 strikeouts were the most in franchise history by a pitcher 40 or older.
Both hits Wainwright surrendered came off the bat of former Cardinal Luke Voit.
Padres starter Blake Snell was also sharp. Snell pitched six innings, allowed just two hits, two runs, walked three, and struck out six.
Both runs that Snell surrendered came in the second inning. Paul Goldschmidt drove in a run with a double and Pujols drove in another with a sac-fly.
It was a true pitcher’s duel through and through, Neither lineup could find much offense. Padres superstar Manny Machado got so frustrated after striking out in the sixth that he was ejected after arguing with the umpire. Manager Bob Melvin would also be ejected.
Down the stretch, the Padres would have to look to other players to step up with Machado tossed.
Clutch Plays
In the eighth inning, Giovanny Gallegos replaced Wainwright on the mound and the Cardinals held a 2-0 lead. After getting Ha-Seong Kim to strike out, Gallegos gave up a double to Padres catcher Jorge Alfaro. Trent Grisham then tied the game with a 411-foot homer to deep right-center field.
From there, both teams tried to find a way to break the tie and get the win. Both teams would have opportunities but this game would go to extras.
In the 10th inning with two outs, Jurickson Profar singled to left, Jose Azocar attempted to score from second but an absolute laser from Lars Nootbaar would beat Azocar to the plate and end the inning.
Then in the bottom half of the inning, Pujols sent Cardinals fans home happy.
Goldy Stays Hot
Paul Goldschmidt more than likely sealed his case for NL Player of the Month for the month of May on Tuesday.
Goldy not only extended his hitting streak to 22 games, but he also recorded his 23rd extra-base hit in the month of May. That is the most extra-base hits in a single month in Cardinals franchise history. Goldy has been on an unreal tear and it stayed that way on Tuesday at Busch Stadium.
What’s Next?
The Padres and Cardinals will play the series finale on Wednesday. The Cardinals will look for the sweep with Dakota Hudson on the mound. Yu Darvish will take the mound for the Padres.
 earned the 3-2 win in walk-off fashion over the San Diego Padres (30-19).){kind=link}