[外電] Pujols enters finale with 99 runs, 99 walks
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Pujols enters finale with 99 runs, 99 walks
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/30/2007
PITTSBURGH — Way back when he was off to a slow start, Cardinals first
baseman Albert Pujols told anyone who asked that his usual numbers would be
there at the end. But as the end neared, even he had his doubts.
"It was difficult to miss those six games at home when you definitely want to
be in there, you want to be playing," Pujols said Saturday. "It's tough being
injured like that. It was tough to deal with. You want to do whatever it
takes to win and let the numbers happen."
They have happened.
Pujols scored his 99th run Saturday night in the Cardinals' 7-3 victory at
Pittsburgh, and he enters Sunday's season finale a walk shy of the first
100-walk season of his career. The last-week burst of stats has his numbers
where they've always been. He has his seventh consecutive season of at least
100 RBIs, a fine complement to seven years of 30 homers and at least a .300
average. One more run will mean his seventh consecutive 100-run season.
His ninth-inning RBI single Saturday raised his batting average to .330,
giving him the chance at a fifth straight season with at least that average.
"Just like last year, just like his career," manager Tony La Russa said.
"Look at the base hits he got (Saturday). They were pitching him like he's
0-2. Nasty pitches. ... This guy is incredible. That's why I say there's no
better hitter in the big leagues, and all of those numbers is a way to
explain how great he is."
Despite a subpar start and a season spent negotiating with an aching
hamstring and, lately, a strained calf muscle, Pujols remains in rarified
company. If he scores one more run, Pujols will be one of four batters with
at least a .300 average, 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs. Two of the other
three are MVP favorites — New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez and Colorado's
Matt Holliday. The third is David Ortiz, Boston's designated hitter.
Ortiz and Pujols would be the only members of the three to have fewer
strikeouts than walks. Ortiz has 110 walks to 101 strikeouts.
Pujols hasn't struck out this month.
Pujols has 56 strikeouts this season, and he enters Sunday's finale without a
strikeout in a career-high run of 107 plate appearances.
The former MVP said it's not lost on him how his first 100-walk season could
be the season he began by fishing for hits outside the strike zone.
Pujols hit .250 in April, had 12 strikeouts in 92 at-bats and found himself
off-balance and reaching for pitches he'd sooner lay off.
"The way I started this season, I wasn't really fighting myself, but I wasn't
myself," Pujols said. "I wasn't being comfortable at the plate, like I was
trying to do too much. Now I trust myself. I'm more comfortable. I can let
the ball get deep and trust my hands."
Trusting his leg was the obstacle.
After his three-RBI game on Sept. 17, Pujols was five RBIs short of 100,
seven runs from 100 and seven walks from 100. That's when the calf barked and
he had two at-bats over the next six games. Reaching the personal centuries
seemed unlikely. If he hit, could he run? If he couldn't run, how could he
score?
He's answered those questions with five consecutive multi-hit games, four
games with at least a run scoring and an RBI in four consecutive. His 100th
RBI came Wednesday.
dgoold@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8285
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