St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols has notched the 2,000th hit of his career, becoming the 263rd Major League Baseball player to reach the milestone. The hit was a double down the third-base line in the eighth inning of the Cardinals' 9-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs Friday. It came off Chicago relief pitcher Carlos Marmol and drove in a run, giving St. Louis a 9-2 lead that would prove to be the final tally. The crowd of 42,042 responded with a standing ovation for the 10-year veteran. Pujols, at second base, waved his helmet to them. Pujols is the fifth Cardinals player to reach 2,000 hits and the first since Hall of Famer Lou Brock did so on July 28, 1974. Brewers 4, Astros 0: Hunter Pence was traded midway through the game, and Randy Wolf pitched seven scoreless innings against a punchless Houston lineup, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-0 victory Friday night for their fourth consecutive victory. Pence was removed in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for three minor-leaguers and a player to be named. Houston starter Jordan Lyles (0-6) had breezed through the first four innings, giving up only one hit and facing the minimum 12 batters. Immediately after Pence was replaced by Jason Michaels in right-field, Prince Fielder led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to the wall in right-center field. Mets 8, Nationals 5: Jose Reyes drove in two runs, and the New York Mets made Chien-Ming Wang's return to the big leagues a short one with a 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals. Ronny Paulino finished with three hits, and David Wright and Jason Bay each had two as the Mets scored four times in the first inning en route to their fifth straight win. It was New York's major-league leading 33rd road win. Phillies 10, Pirates 3: Chase Utley fell a double shy of the cycle, Roy Halladay tossed one-hit ball over seven shutout innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. In other games it was: NY Mets 8, Washington 5; Cincinnati 4, San Francisco 3, 13 innings; Atlanta 5, Florida 0; LA Dodgers 9, Arizona 5.
