ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols hit his 695th home run in the eighth inning and Miles Mikolas tossed eight shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Pujols drilled the two-run, pinch-hit shot off reliever Brandon Hughes (2-2). He trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696) on the all-time list.
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Puols has seven pinch-hit homers in his career and two this season. He has homered against a record 451 pitchers.
The Cardinals have won four in a row and 18 of their last 20 home games, and they’re a season-best 24 games over .500 at 79-55. It was their eighth series sweep of the season.
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The Cubs have lost seven of eight.
Mikolas (11-10) gave up two hits, struck out three and walked one. Ryan Helsley recorded his 13th save in 17 chances.
Cubs starter Marcus Stroman allowed four hits in seven shutout innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter in a 98-pitch stint.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 28 minutes by rain.
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras missed the game with a sore left foot. He suffered the injury Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
