Los Angeles Angels’ first baseman Albert Pujols is seen in the dugout before the start of the MLB game between the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals. The Angels won the game as Pujols hit his 500th career home run. (EPA)


Reuters/Washington


Albert Pujols belted two homers to reach the 500 home run milestone as he powered the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-2 win over Washington at Nationals Park on Tuesday.
Pujols drilled a three-run shot over the fence in the first inning for his 499th then added the landmark blast on a two-run drive in the fifth.
He became the 26th player in Major League history to reach the milestone and the Washington crowd saluted the 34-year-old with a standing ovation.
After the game, Pujols took to Twitter to thank his fans and followers. “Thank you to all of my fans for the well wishes on my HR#500. I thank The Lord for you, & your support over the years. May God bless you all,” the Dominican-born American tweeted.
Pujols, a three-time MVP, finished with five RBIs to continue his power surge after a disappointing 2013 campaign. He now has eight homers on the season to lead the Major Leagues. A nine-time All-Star, Pujols hit 455 of his home runs with the St Louis Cardinals before joining the Angels prior to the 2012 season.
Elsewhere, New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was a winner in his first Major League Baseball game against arch-rivals Boston Red Sox, striking out seven in Tuesday’s 9-3 victory.
The 25-year-old Japanese right-hander, signed to a seven-year deal worth $155 million in January, scattered seven hits over 7 1/3 innings while walking none.
Tanaka surrendered his only runs on back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz and Mike Napoli in the fourth inning and improved to 3-0 in the young season with his first triumph at historic Fenway Park.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who helped the Red Sox win two World Series titles in seven years with Boston, went 2-for-5 with a triple and a double and drove in two runs in his first Fenway appearance for the Yankees, who signed the star outfielder to a seven-year deal for $153 million.
Tanaka’s triumph was his 31st in a row in regular-season games, a run that includes the last four games of his 2012 season in Japan, his 24-0 run last year for the Japan series champion Rakuten Eagles and his first three decisions for the Yankees.
The only loss Tanaka has suffered in that span came in last year’s Japan Series, when the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants beat him in game six only to watch him earn the save in the series-clincher the next night.
Tanaka had a 1.27 earned run average and 183 strikeouts last year in Japan.
Also for the Yankees, Brian McCann went 3-for-4 with an run-scoring double and Carlos Beltran finished 2-for-5 with a homer and drove in two runs.
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