The St. Louis Cards had 26 hits to defeat the Washington Nationals 29-8 on Wednesday in a preseason game.
St. Louis notably scored 15 runs in the eighth inning.
Cardinals legend Albert Pujols has played his first game for the club since 2011.
The record for most runs in an inning in a regular season game in the modern era (since 1900) is 17, a record held by the Boston Red Sox since 1953 (seventh inning). The spring training stats don’t carry the same weight, but it shows what a big run it was for the Cards.
The Cards sent 19 batters home in the eighth inning, where they racked up 10 hits and four walks. The Nationals recorded no outs before the eighth batter.
Pitchers Anibal Sanchez and Cade Cavalli allowed 10 runs each. Paul DeJong, Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis.
Sanchez, 38, allowed ten runs on 12 hits and walked one in four innings.
Cavalli, Washington’s top prospect, managed to stay optimistic after giving up 11 runs, including 10 earned, in 2 1/3 innings. “I went to the fight and I lost today,” Cavalli said. I will hold my head high. I will learn from it, work and everything will be fine. »
The 2007 Texas Rangers hold the record for most points scored in a regular season game in the modern era, having defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30-3.
The combined 37 points scored Wednesday equal the 37 points scored March 21 between the Rangers (25) and Cleveland Guardians (12).
The Cardinals are 6-4 this spring, while the Nationals are down to 1-10.
Pujols hit the first hit of his second stint with the Cards. He also received a text message telling him that his wife’s brain surgery had been a success.
As Pujols prepared to make his training debut, his wife, Deidre, announced on social media on Tuesday evening that she was preparing to undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor discovered in October.
Pujols signed with St. Louis and arrived at camp Monday knowing his wife was preparing for what doctors told them was a relatively routine operation.
The Cards and Pujols have agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal, giving him a chance to end his career where it began. After a decade in Los Angeles with the Angels, he returns to St. Louis with 679 career home runs.
Pujols played his first 11 years of his career in St. Louis, winning World Series titles in 2006 and 2011. Rookie of the Year in 2001, he hit for at least .300, with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in each of his first 10 seasons.
He signed a ten-year, $240 million contract in 2012 with the Angels, who released him last May when he was hitting .198. He signed with the Dodgers, with whom he hit 12 homers and drove in 38 runs in 85 games.
