VIDEO: Albert Pujols Walks-Off San Diego Padres with RBI Sac Fly
If you've been a baseball fan since 2001, you've probably seen Albert Pujols at the center of many walk-off victories for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The first baseman turned designated hitter in the later years of his career still has plenty of magic left in his bat and on Tuesday, he was the hero against the San Diego Padres.
Through seven innings, the Cardinals were coasting, but holding onto a tight 2-0 lead. San Diego tied things up in the bottom of the eighth and the score remained tied through nine innings.
In extras, the Padres were unable to make anything happen in the top half of the 10th, which put St. Louis in the driver's seat in the bottom half of the frame.
Pujols already had an RBI earlier in the game as well as a hit, but with runners on the corners and one out, he just needed to put the ball in play for a potential run to score.
He did just that, lining out to left field, well deep enough for Tommy Edman to score the winning run.
We really haven't seen Pujols enjoying himself on the diamond this much in quite some time and since he's come back to St. Louis for his final MLB season and last as a Cardinal, the vibe has changed significantly.
This is of course the team that drafted Pujols and this is the team he spent his first 10 MLB seasons with.
Just watching him on the field and in the dugout, he's right back at home with the first team he called home.
The elation Pujols showed in his postgame celebration is one that many Cardinals fans are feeling right now as they improved to 28-21 with the win, sitting just three games back of the Milwaukee Brewers atop the NL Central.
St. Louis finishes the month of May with a 17-10 record and are not just in playoff contention, but division-winning contention moving forward.
