Pujols blasts off to join Ruth, Jackson as Cardinals take series lead

Albert Pujols had plenty to admire in Game 3. (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder)

Albert Pujols had gone hitless in the first two World Series games. He also misplayed a cutoff throw in Game 2 that led to a game-changing play for the Texas Rangers. Struggling after a solid NLCS, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman was due for something good to happen. Something great did.

The slugger stepped to the plate with two on and two out in the sixth inning. Over the previous two innings a combined 13 runs were scored by the two teams. The score was 8-6. Pujols was right in the middle of that action, singling to start both the fourth and the fifth. This time, in the sixth, he managed to make a much noisier impact. And it was only the beginning.

Facing reliever Alexi Ogando, who was finally able to retire Allen Craig, Pujols took a 1-0 slider that was well outside. He thought it was a ball–it clearly was–but to his surprise it was called a strike by home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. Pujols was disgusted, turning his head away in frustration. He was angry, and took out this frustration on the next pitch.

Ogando fired in a high fastball clocked at 96-miles-per-hour. The offering looked too high even for the best hitter the generation, but Pujols proved it was right in his wheelhouse. His mighty bat made crisp and powerful contact, and he turned on the pitch. The more than 40,000 Rangers fans in attendance let out a collective groan. He strutted down the first base line as the deposited pitch rocketed high though the air and hit the second-deck’s facade in left-field. As announcer Joe Buck watched its flight he said, “that ball is absolutely murdered.” His partner in the booth, Tim McCarver, let out an “Oh my gosh” in disbelief. Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy had this to say on Twitter: “My heavens- I’ve tested the limits of that ballpark but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one like that.” It was hard not to be awestruck. After all, the ball was pulverized. High and deep; boom. It traveled 423 feet but only stopped because it had to hit something.

The Cardinals lead was now 11-6, and Albert The Great was far from done. The Cardinals had their third five-run lead of the game, having previously held 5-0 and 8-3 leads. This time, the advantage would be comfortable, and Pujols made sure his team would only increase the margin. He nailed a first-pitch fastball from Michael Gonzalez into the left-center field seats in the seventh, a two-run shot giving him four hits, four runs scored, and five rbi’s in four innings time.

The game was finally out of reach, even for Texas’s powerful bats. Pujols had already etched his name into the postseason history books with his performance, but he wasn’t satisfied. He went deep again, this time off Darren Oliver in the ninth. He had joined Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth as the only three players to have a three-homer game in the World Series. Three homers in three consecutive at-bats, five hits in a row altogether. Even for someone of Pujols’ caliber, this was hard to believe.

Teammate Lance Berkman said after the 16-7 win that Pujols is better than Ruth and Jackson were combined. That seems a bit outlandish, but he’s certainly better than Jackson was and is rightfully in Ruth’s company. As it was for his predecessors, the game was an unforgettable one. Not only did his team win to take a series lead on the road but he put together perhaps the best World Series performance ever.

“When the opportunity presents itself to put him on the bag, I’m not going to let him swing the bat,” Texas manager Ron Washington said after, as documented by Fox Sports Midwest. “But tonight, we just couldn’t get the ball out of the middle of the plate and up, and he just didn’t miss. Tonight was something special.”

“I’ve seen a lot of great things from him but that’s got to be right at the top of the list,” said teammate Matt Holliday, who threw out a pivotal runner at the plate prior to Pujols’ explosion. “Three homers? Five hits? I mean he’s the best I’ve ever seen. When he gets three hits, he ends up getting four. When he gets four, he gets five. I mean he’s really good.

“The one off Ogando was amazing,” Holliday continued. “To get 96 (miles per hour) and get on top of it and hit it like that on a high fastball, that’s pretty impressive.”

“Just Albert being Albert,” added fellow outfielder Jon Jay. “I told Dan Descalso before the game, I said I think he’s going to hit two home runs. He hit three. Albert is that type of player. On this type of stage he’s going to show you what he’s got. He’s been swinging the bat well and this is the time he shines.”

“It was pretty incredible to watch him have one of those games that I’ll be telling my kids that I was there,” starting pitcher Kyle Lohse said. “He’s amazing. That’s why it’s no fluke he’s done it for 11 years. It’s fun to watch him do it on this stage and let everybody else in the country see what he’s capable of.”

Pujols helped his team to victory, put himself alongside Ruth and Jackson, and set a World Series record with 15 total bases, having a night at the plate he won’t soon forget. Lohse said he would walk him if he wasn’t on his team. Washington said his team will in the future. Pujols gave him mistakes to learn from.

“Just pretty special,” Pujols said. “Hopefully, at the end of my career, I can look back and say, ‘Wow, what a game it was in Game 3 in 2011.” He will be able to, but for now his five-hit, six-rbi, three-homer outing gives the Cardinals a leg-up on the Rangers. And, with Game 4 and another chance to destroy the opposition just around the corner, that is all that matters right now.