What began as reminder of Albert Pujols’ mastery of the moment and the player they used to have became, ultimately, for the Cardinals another showcase for the team they do have.
Pujols, clad now in Dodger blue, homered in his first at-bat as a National League player visiting Busch Stadium.
That callback to history was also a harbinger.
Pujols’ homer was the first of four hit by the Dodgers as they turned to nine different pitchers to stymie the Cardinals in a 7-2 victory Tuesday at Busch Stadium. Justin Turner hit two of the four home runs, and catcher Will Smith had the fourth as part of his four-hit game. The Cardinals scattered eight hits against the nine different pitchers but didn’t muster any offense beyond what Nolan Arenado could deliver.
The loss was similar to the nine-pitcher, nine-inning shutout San Diego authored against the Cardinals to eliminate them from the playoffs a year ago, and this game had the feel of a contending team again revealing the gap between it and the Cardinals. The Cardinals have lost four consecutive games, fading like Polaroid image from the wild-card race. They need something to shake them.
Manager Mike Shildt said before the game he hoped that the fans would have a chance to cheer Pujols before his first at-bat but not after.
With his homer, they got both.
For the second consecutive game, in front of one of the larger crowds of the season thanks to the Dodgers and Pujols, the Cardinals had a middle-order regular getting a scheduled rest. On Monday, Yadier Molina and Arenado did not start, and on Tuesday it was Paul Goldschmidt’s rare day off. Shildt said that in each case this was a scheduled day off – set by the team playing 13 consecutive days and coming off a 10-game, three-city trip. Left unsaid was the opponent was not in the division.
The Cardinals followed the plan as opposed to reacting to the moment. The plan had the regulars getting the rest, as scheduled. The moment had more than 77,000 tickets sold for two games and fans that did not see the hometown team’s franchise faces.
Thrust higher into the order with Goldschmidt’s absence, Tyler O’Neill made the most of the new view by reaching base four times through eight innings. He snagged a stolen base, moved Dylan Carlson to third so he could score the Cardinals’ first run, and his speed helped create the run that gave the Cardinals a fleeting lead through three innings. O’Neill opened the eighth with a walk, stole second, and then after Arenado’s 10-pitch at-bat ended with a strikeout the game found the middle of the order sans Goldschmidt.
O’Neill did not budge past second.
Despite the Dodgers having to patchwork their pitching, the Cardinals did not score after the third inning, and one of their runs scored on a sacrifice fly.
Before the game, Cardinals catcher Molina predicted the reception for Pujols would be the same as it was in 2019, when the three-time MVP made his first appearance as a visiting player – eight years after his last appearance as World Series champion.
Molina then played a part in assuring that.
As the Dodgers’ first baseman and No.3 hitter came to the plate for his first at-bat, Molina stepped into the field of the play, toward the infield grass to buy time for the ovation. Happ placed his glove on the backside of the mound and stepped back from it. The ovation lased for about 30 seconds. Pujols doffed his batting helmet. He stepped in the batter’s box, gripped Molina for a hug as the catcher passed by, and then went back to business as usual.
His business remains good.
Pujols sent the fourth pitch he saw from Happ into the left-field seats – the place he peppered with home runs from 2006-2011. The home run was Pujols’ 679th of his career, the 206th he’s hit in St. Louis and the 112th that he hit in Busch III. It also moved him ever closer to one of the many major-league records Stan Musial possessed when he retired. Pujols and Musial are two of four players in baseball history with more than 6,000 total bases. Musial got there with the help of 1,377 extra-base hits – the record when The Man retired.
Pujols’ home run in the first inning Tuesday night was his 1,367th extra-base hit, putting him 10 away from tying Musial.
Musial is currently third all-time, behind Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.
For a few innings, the game appeared to be a showcase of the Cardinal past and the Cardinals’ present. Pujols’ homer gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead that Arenado answered with an sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the third, Arenado broke that 1-1 tie with an RBI single. Tyler O’Neill’s speed set up that chance as he sprinted to stretch a sure single into a racetrack double. Arenado capitalized with a single to center that scored O’Neill for the Cardinals’ 2-1 lead.
Arenado’s RBI in the third inning for the lead was his 850th RBI of his career and 90th of the season. He’s on pace to be the Cardinals’ first 100 RBI player since 2012 when Matt Holliday surpassed 100 RBIs. The last infielder to have 100 RBIs for the Cardinals was, of course, Pujols back in 2010. On Tuesday, through three innings, Arenado had the edge.
Present 2, Past 1.
The lead didn’t have much of a future.
What began with an RBI double to tie the game and continued with a groundout to break that tie continued into the late innings with the Dodgers showing off their power. An infield single by Corey Seager, the No. 5 on Pujols Five’s team, started the rally that put LA ahead in the fourth inning. He advanced to second on a passed ball and got to third on a single by Smith. Steven Souza Jr., added to the Dodgers’ active roster on Tuesday, pulled a double into right field to score Seager. Smith came home to break the tie on former MVP Cody Bellinger’s groundout.
That’s former MVP Cody Bellinger – batting eighth for LA.
The home runs followed.
Before the Cardinals acquired him at the trade deadline, one of Happ’s issues with the Twins was the home runs he allowed. Specifically those to righthanded batters. With Pujols’ homer and Justin Turner’s solo shot in the fifth inning, Happ has allowed 26 home runs to righthanded batters. That’s the fourth-most in the majors by a pitcher this season.
While the Dodgers ran a relay race from the bullpen, Happ found his own way through five innings. The two solo home runs were half of the four runs he allowed, and the lefty did limit the trouble he got into by not walking a batter. The Dodgers and their lean-right lineup tagged Happ for seven hits. Righthanded hitters had six of them.
