St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols hit his 400th career home run, becoming the 47th Major League Baseball player to reach the milestone.
Pujols led off the fourth inning against Washington on Thursday by smacking an 0-1 fastball from Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann into the right-centerfield seats.
At 30 years, 222 days, Pujols became the third-youngest player to reach 400 home runs.
Alex Rodriguez hit No. 400 at 29 years, 316 days, and Ken Griffey jnr reached the benchmark at 30 years, 141 days.
Pujols' drive broke a three-way tie with Al Kaline and Andres Galarraga for 47th place on baseball's career list.
As soon as he completed his swing, Pujols stood and watched as the ball sailed out.
It was Pujols' 34th home run of the season and his 10th in 21 games this month.
After rounding the bases he returned to the dugout, where he was mobbed by teammates.
His homer cut the Nationals' lead to 3-2, but it was Washington who eventually prevailed 11-10 in a 13-inning roller-coaster of a contest.
Ian Desmond singled home Nyjer Morgan in the bottom of the 13th inning to give Washington the victory.
Pujols hurt his right ankle in the bottom of the 10th when he tried to plant his foot on the tarp to reach for a foul ball near the first base dugout, but he stayed in the contest.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
