“I think it fits,” said Matt Holliday, who witnessed Pujols from the St. Louis Cardinals’ on-deck circle on Saturday night. “The guy’s a once-in-a-generation player. He should do something in the World Series like this.”
In a performance destined to be etched in bronze on a plaque in Cooperstown, Pujols produced one of the greatest nights a hitter has ever had in the World Series. He went five for six, with three homers and six runs batted in, leading the Cardinals to a 16-7 rout of Texas in Game 3 at Rangers Ballpark.
Paul Molitor is the only player besides Pujols to have five hits in a World Series game, and Pujols set a record for total bases, with 14. Hitless in the first two games at Busch Stadium, where his error in the ninth inning helped the Rangers win Game 2, Pujols erupted on Saturday, putting his team two wins from a title.
“I didn’t walk into the ballpark today thinking that I was going to have a night like this,” Pujols said. “I walked to the ballpark with the attitude that I have every day — to help this ballclub to win.”
Pujols’ night was already historic by the time he came to bat with two outs in the ninth against the left-hander Darren Oliver. By then he was one of just two players — Tim Salmon was the other — with two home runs among four hits in a World Series game.
The Cardinals led by eight runs, and Pujols said he thought of asking Manager Tony La Russa to remove him for a pinch-hitter. Perhaps, Pujols said,
Allen Craig hit a solo home run in the first inning to give St Louis a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals then scored four runs in the fourth to make it 5-0 before the teams traded three runs apiece in the fifth.
Pujols scored on David Freese's ground out followed by Yadier Molina's two-run double in the fifth. The Rangers narrowed the gap to two runs, 8-6, on Michael Young's one-run double, Adrian Beltre's run-scoring single and Mike Napoli's sacrifice fly that sent Young home.
But the Cardinals, unfazed by the Rangers revival, surged ahead relentlessly. In the sixth, Pujols came up with runners on first and second and crushed a high fastball from Alexi Ogando off the facing of the second level in left field.
The three-run homer, followed by a sacrifice fly by Molina, seemed to cripple the Rangers and their fans once and for all.
The sellout crowd of 51,462 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington fell silent in the seventh when Pujols, with a runner on first, hit his second home run of the night, and his fifth of the post-season, deep to left-centre field to give the Cardinals a 14-6 lead.
Napoli added an inconsequential sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, which was quickly canceled by Molina, who hit his second double of the night in the eighth inning to send home Daniel Descalso.
Pujols said his team needed that homer after the Rangers had rallied with a three-hit inning. ''It doesn't matter how far they go,'' Pujols said. ''We just needed a run at that time.''
Pujols then hit his third home run in the top of the ninth. That, too, was mostly inconsequential, though it etched his name in the history books.
''I've seen Albert do a lot of amazing things,'' Matt Holliday said. ''This is obviously one at the top of the list.''
Lance Lynn allowed one run on three hits and struck out two in 2⅓ innings in getting the win for the Cardinals. Starter Matt Harrison, the loser, gave up five runs on six hits and struck out three in 3⅔ innings for the Rangers, who used six pitchers.
All about: Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees
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