ST. LOUIS -- It was a memorable night that saw Albert Pujols make a touching return to Busch Stadium as a visiting player for the first time in his career, but it ended in a loss, as the Angels’ offense was mostly held in check in a 5-1 defeat to the Cardinals in the series opener Friday.

Pujols, who last played in St. Louis in a victorious Game 7 of the 2011 World Series over the Rangers, received four major standing ovations from the Cardinals’ faithful, who made up the second-biggest crowd in the history of the ballpark. Pujols went 1-for-2 with a walk, but it wasn’t enough of a spark during a quiet night from the offense, which couldn’t back rookie right-hander Griffin Canning. Despite the loss, Pujols said he’ll never forget what he called one of the most emotional games of his career.

• Box score

“This is an incredible moment for me tonight, something I’m going to put right up there with the accomplishment of winning the World Series twice,” said Pujols, a three-time National League MVP and nine-time All-Star during his time with the Cardinals. “It was a pretty special night, not just for me, but for my wife and five kids to be a part of that.”

Canning bounced back after posting a 5.50 ERA over his last three starts, but failed to pitch deep into the game despite retiring the first nine batters that he faced. Canning went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts to fall to 2-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 starts this year.

“Obviously, wish I did a little better, but it was definitely a good atmosphere,” Canning said. “I’m sure it was pretty special for Albert. It was cool with all the fans here and the energy around.”

Canning surrendered a game-tying RBI single to Marcell Ozuna in the fourth and loaded the bases with one out, keyed by three walks. But he escaped the jam by getting Yadier Molina to pop out and Kolten Wong to fly out.

He was hurt by Ozuna again in the sixth, allowing a go-ahead solo homer on an 1-0 slider. Jose Martinez followed with a single and that was it from Canning after 92 pitches.

“I thought Canning was good,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. “He did an excellent job against a good team. Slider was good. Changeup was good. Fastball was good. Not a ton of curveballs, but I thought he pitched really well. He certainly gave us a chance to win.”

The Angels scored in the first off right-hander Michael Wacha, but couldn’t add to their total the rest of the night and saw the game slip away with the Cardinals scoring three runs in the seventh off reliever Luke Bard.

Justin Upton provided the key hit in the first with an RBI double to center to score Mike Trout from first after Trout singled in his first-ever at-bat at the ballpark. Pujols came to the plate later in the frame and received a rousing standing ovation from the crowd, tipping his cap to the fans and embracing Molina, his former teammate for eight of his 11 years in St. Louis. Pujols then jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Wacha, but flied out to deep left-center field, eliciting a collective gasp from the crowd until the ball ended up in Harrison Bader’s glove near the warning track.

“It was pretty amazing,” Pujols said of his first at-bat. “They showed you why they are the best fans in baseball. I’m just glad to have been able to play here 11 years and have the memories. I was pretty close to dropping a couple tears there, especially when I hugged Yadi and we had that little moment to ourselves.”

Pujols got another standing ovation in the fourth before he drew a leadoff walk on four pitches. But the Angels couldn’t get anything going that inning. His final at-bat came in the seventh, when he pulled off a rarity by reaching on an infield single to third. Pujols reached first base in 4.76 seconds, which was his fastest time to first since June 6, 2015, per Statcast.

"It felt great," Pujols said with a laugh. "I didn’t know that I still had those legs. It feels like I’m still 25. Nah, don’t believe that."

Pujols reached second after a single from Luis Rengifo and then was removed for pinch-runner Wilfredo Tovar, which allowed Pujols to get his fourth and final standing ovation of the night. But the move didn’t work out for the Angels, as pinch-hitters Shohei Ohtani and Dustin Garneau both struck out to strand two runners. The Angels went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on the night, leaving six runners on base.

“We didn’t have the outcome we wanted in terms of the game, but the celebration of Albert was well done,” Ausmus said. “We just couldn’t muster up any runs.”