- Albert Pujols may very well be the best player in baseball
right now, but he should learn to keep his mouth shut.
After he and his St. Louis Cardinals were dominated by Tom Glavine in Game 1
of the National League Championship Series on Thursday, Pujols proceeded to
rip the veteran left-hander's performance.
'He wasn't good. He wasn't good at all,' Pujols said of Glavine, who allowed
four hits over seven scoreless innings to nail down the victory. 'I think we
hit the ball hard, we didn't get some breaks.
'I say he wasn't good at all. We just didn't get some opportunities and that's
it...(Glavine did the) same thing that he always does. Throw a changeup,
fastball and that was it. I just think we should've done a better job than we
did.'
Waaahhh! Albert, why don't you worry about your own performance? Over his last
three playoff games, Pujols is 0-for-10, including an 0-for-3 night with a
strikeout on Thursday against Glavine.
'Why can I be frustrated? I can't make a mistake?,' Pujols snapped after the
game. 'Am I perfect?'
Pujols also made a critical baserunning blunder in the fourth inning. After
drawing a walk, he strayed too far off first on Juan Encarnacion's fly to
shallow center and got doubled up on a one-hop throw by Carlos Beltran.
'I didn't think anything. Double play, that's it,' Pujols said of the play.
'It's part of the game.'
Sounds like the postseason pressure is starting to get to someone. Can you
imagine if Alex Rodriguez would have made comments like that? He would be
destroyed. Heaven forbid anyone says anything about the great Pujols.
Give me a break, El Hombre, and don't grip the bat so tight tonight. And don't
worry, I am sure the New York crowd will be unaware of your comments.
BELTRAN CONTINUES TO BE THORN IN SIDE OF CARDINALS
If there is one player that struck fear into the hearts of St. Louis fans
coming into this series, it was Beltran, who put on one of the most amazing
offensive displays in postseason history against the Cardinals in the 2004
NLCS. Beltran batted.417 with four homers and five RBI as a member of the
Astros in that series.
Well that trend continued on Thursday, as Beltran's two-run home run in the
sixth inning was the difference in the Mets' 2-0 Game 1 win.
'Well, he's a big-game guy,' manager Willie Randolph said. 'He's shown what he
can do throughout the season. We're not looking for him to duplicate that, but
he seems to have a flare for coming through in a big spot. Huge home run for
us. Everyone is getting out a little bit sluggish and you make a mistake to
him, you're going to pay for it. Outstanding job to get us on the board.'
Beltran, who also hit a game-ending homer against St. Louis in August, has now
played eight career postseason games against the Cardinals and has hit five
home runs in just 28 at-bats in those contests.
HERO
Glavine was absolutely sensational on Thursday, despite what Pujols had to
say. With Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez sidelined for the remainder of
the playoffs, the veteran left-hander has stepped up in a big way. Glavine has
yet to give up a run in 13 innings this postseason.
GOAT
Pujols (see above)
LOOKING AHEAD
Chris Carpenter tries to even the National League Championship Series at a
game apiece this evening as the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets play
Game 2 of their best-of-seven set at Shea Stadium.
Carpenter was originally slated to go in Game 3 of this series, but thanks to
a rainout on Wednesday, the reigning Cy Young Award winner can pitch on
regular rest tonight. The Cardinals have won all five career postseason starts
by Carpenter, including two in this year's NLDS against San Diego.
'And it's simple as he's our best pitcher and that's his fifth day,' said
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa of the decision. 'Seems to make sense that if
there's a game on a day that he's used to pitching, whatever the reason is,
you don't pitch him.'
The 31-year-old right-hander held the Padres to just three runs on 12 hits in
13 1/3 innings.
Carpenter has only faced the Mets three times in his career and is just 1-2
with a 4.24 ERA against them. He also hasn't pitched at Shea Stadium since an
interleague start with Toronto in July 2001.
New York will counter with rookie right-hander John Maine, who had maybe the
toughest assignment of all the Mets starters in the first round and came
through with flying colors. Filling in for the injured Orlando Hernandez in
Game 1 of the NLDS, Maine gave up a run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings against
the Dodgers in his first-ever postseason appearance.
Maine has faced the Cardinals just once and received a no decision in that
one, despite allowing seven runs and six hits in five innings.
© 2006 The Sports Network
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