Albert's inning hand: A pair of jacks!
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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Albert Pujols, whose Opening Day status was believed to be in doubt at this time a month ago, seemed to be in midsesason form in Saturday's 15-7 win over the Brewers -- particularly in the third inning.
The Angels slugger clubbed not one, but two home runs as part of the club's eight-run third inning.
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Pujols set the tone for the offensive explosion by crushing Wily Peralta's second pitch of the inning over the left-field wall for a leadoff home run. The Halos then batted around the order before Pujols stepped in and walloped another Peralta pitch, this time connecting for a two-out, two-run shot to cap the eight-run frenzy.
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Though Pujols has 560 career regular season home runs, he has never hit multiple blasts in the same inning.
In fact, the last player to accomplish the rare feat in a regular season contest was Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion on July 26, 2013. The Blue Jays slugger teed off for a pair of homers -- also part of an eight-run frame -- in the seventh inning to key a comeback victory over the Astros.
Aside from his two-homer inning, Pujols also contributed a run-scoring single during the opening inning of Saturday's game. Pujols, who entered the day just 5-for-26 this spring with one home run and five RBIs, finished the day 3-for-3 with the two dingers and four RBIs.
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"He had a real good first at-bat, was great to see him hit the ball to right field with a runner in scoring position, which is what he does when he's on," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Then he got two pitches up and just killed them, hit them a long way."