CHICAGO — The importance of the home run to history was obvious when even a bleacher creature at Wrigley Field didn’t dare follow tradition and toss that baseball back on the field.
The importance of the homer to the moment was clear on the scoreboard.
Albert Pujols led off the seventh inning with a solo homer and gave Cardinals lefty Jordan Montgomery the only run he’d need on his way to a complete-game shutout. Pujols’ 693rd career home run led the way for a first in Montgomery’s big-league career. The lefty had never pitched in the ninth inning of a game before completing a 1-0 one-hitter against the Cubs on Monday at Wrigley Field.
