Albert Pujols Blasts 610th Career Homer, Rises to 8th All-Time

Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols went 2-for-5 with a home run during Tuesday's 10-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. In doing so, he climbed up to eighth on the all-time home run leaderboard (610), passing Sammy Sosa, per the MLB's official Twitter account.

In passing Sosa, Pujols also became the all-time home run leader among foreign-born players. He was born in the Dominican Republic and played ball at Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City, Missouri, before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft.

In addition to his home runs, Pujols ranks 12th all-time in both doubles (615) and runs batted in (1,896). The 37-year-old is also creeping in on 3,000 career hits, currently standing at 2,931—good for 38th all-time.

The veteran has racked up an impressive haul of hardware throughout his time in the MLB. Among the most notable are three Most Valuable Player awards, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, 10 All-Star selections and two World Series rings.

He's spent the past six years in Los Angeles after playing for the Cardinals for his first 11 campaigns. Though primarily a designated hitter at this point in his career, Pujols has played first base, third base and left field over his 17 seasons.

While age has dramatically caught up with him this season—slashing just .231/.277/.384 with 19 homers—the Angels continue to deploy him regularly, evidenced by his 114 games played this season.

After splitting the first two games, the Angels face the Rangers again Wednesday in the third of a four-game series. Andrew Cashner, who is 7-9 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, will toe the rubber against Pujols and his teammates.