700 Home Runs for Albert Pujols!

St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols has entered baseball’s most exclusive club, slugging the 700th home run of his storied career to join Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds as the only players to reach that milestone.

Pujols, 42, playing the final season of his storied career, clobbered No. 699 and No. 700 in back-to-back innings against his former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, triggering a warm celebration that swept teammates, opponents and fans to their feet in tribute.

“This is like the Mount Rushmore of sluggers, so to reach that 700-home run mark, it’s remarkable,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Pujols, a certain Hall of Famer, joins Aaron as the only two hitters in Major League Baseball to reach 3,000 hits and 700 homers.

He humbly accepted the showering of respect, sending a hug to the  fans in the stands but saying afterwards winning for his teammates has always been more important to him than reaching personal milestones. 

Giants Lose to Dallas, 23-16

The New York Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, 23-16.

New York (2-1) won its first two games off second-half scoring, but this week it was Dallas leaving the Giants in the dust in the fourth quarter.

Saquon Barkley’s 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter broke a 6-6 tie, but the Cowboys (2-1) answered with two consecutive touchdown drives. Both of those scores were from the 1-yard line: a run from Ezekiel Elliott and a one-handed grab by CeeDee Lamb. 

The Giants got the ball back on their own 9-yard line with 1:45 to play, but Daniel Jones threw his only interception of the game to seal New York’s fate.

The Cowboys have now won 10 of their past 11 games against the Giants. 

Pass rush was the deciding factor. Daniel Jones was sacked six times — including three times by Demarcus Lawrence — and was pressured constantly. The Giants defense did not record any sacks.

The Giants will host the Chicago Bears in Week 4. The 2-1 Bears, like the Giants, have a record that exceeds preseason expectations of the team. Can New York stay above .500?

Luis Severino Passes Yankees Test With Flying Colors

Luis Severino’s return was worth the wait.

The Yankees right-hander, making his first start in more than two months, looked sharp across five innings Wednesday night in a 14-2 win over the Pirates.

Still building up his workload after making three rehab starts, Severino, who had been on the injured list with a strained right lat, threw an efficient 64 pitches while giving up one run on two hits and one walk, with six strikeouts.

“I was just happy to be back with the team, finally come back and help in any way that I can,” Severino said. “I feel really good. I feel confident and ready to get another start.”

The schedule will allow Severino to make two more starts in the regular season, against the Blue Jays and Orioles, after which he should be close to fully built up for the playoffs.

The Yankees need Severino to deliver more of what he flashed Wednesday night to give them a better shot of making a deep playoff run. The 28-year-old likely would serve as their Game 2 or 3 starter in a series.