The importance of the home run to history was obvious when even a bleacher creature at Wrigley Field didn’t dare follow tradition and toss that baseball back on the field.
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Derrick Goold
CHICAGO — The importance of the home run to history was obvious when even a bleacher creature at Wrigley Field didn’t dare follow tradition and toss that baseball back on the field.
The importance of the homer to the moment was clear on the scoreboard.
Albert Pujols led off the seventh inning with a solo homer and gave Cardinals lefty Jordan Montgomery the only run he’d need on his way to a complete-game shutout. Pujols’ 693rd career home run led the way for a first in Montgomery’s big-league career. The lefty had never pitched in the ninth inning of a game before completing a 1-0 one-hitter against the Cubs on Monday at Wrigley Field.
Montgomery faced one batter over the minimum, getting 27 outs from 28 Cubs.
In his first start in the Midwest’s oldest baseball rivalry, Montgomery continued his unbeaten run since coming to the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Montgomery has won all four starts he’s made for the Cardinals, and he’s yet to allow more than a run in any of them. The lefty’s career night at Wrigley included retiring the final 19 batters he faced.
Nick Madrigal, the final batter of the game, skipped a grounder that allowed a fitting completion to Montgomery’s gem.
Pujols, who provided the only run, gloved the grounder and flipped to Montgomery, who beat Madrigal to first base for the final out.
It came on Montgomery’s 99th pitch.
He had no problem making the play.