When St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel slammed consecutive home runs in Tuesday’s third inning at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, the runs not only provided the eventual margin of victory in the Cardinals’ 7-2 win over the Reds, but the pair of home runs also were the initial back-to-back jacks for the club in 2008.
In fact, they were the first for St. Louis since last August 6. But, if 2007 is any indication, the consecutive shots may soon be coming in bunches. Last season, two of the five occurred in one game, at Philadelphia on July 15. Another time, only one game separated a pair of back-to-back blasts, at the end of May and beginning of June.
It was not surprising to see Albert Pujols involved, as he went deep in two of the five cases in 2007 also, putting him in half of the most recent pairings. Hopefully, his calf strain re-aggravated on Tuesday night will not keep him out of long ball action long.
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Scout.com subscribers, click here for more information regarding Pujols’ injury.)
The name Rick Ankiel was especially good to see in his first game back from a knee infection. Despite 2008 being the outfielder’s first season as a full-time MLB starter as a position player, Tuesday was not his first participation in the back-to-back jacks derby. Ankiel also went deep with Eli Marrero back in 2000, during his initial career as a pitcher.
The recent Cardinals consecutive home run tally follows:
Brian Walton can be reached via email at brwalton@earthlink.net.
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