It's Texas Hold Him: Dealing with Pujols

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Remember when the Rangers' biggest problem in this World Series was Allen Craig?

In the first two games, Craig was the Cardinals' semi-secret weapon, a pinch hitter extraordinaire who tormented Texas reliever Alexi Ogando.

But after Saturday night's punishing 16-7 loss in Game 3, the Rangers had greater concerns, namely figuring out what to do with Albert Pujols as well as Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, the dangerous duo directly behind him.

The tricky part about the St. Louis lineup is that it's not as simple as holding up four fingers and giving Pujols first base. Entering Game 4 Sunday night, Holliday was batting .326 (14-for-43) this postseason with three doubles, a homer, five RBIs and a .420 on-base percentage. Berkman was at .280 (14-for-50) with a homer, eight RBIs and a .368 OBP.

That protection ensured that Pujols would see pitches during the regular season, and the trend has continued during the postseason, much to the detriment of opposing teams.

The Rangers were treated to the Full Pujols in Game 3, when the St. Louis slugger had -- statistically speaking -- the greatest offensive night in the history of the Fall Classic with three homers, six RBIs, five hits and a record 14 total bases.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance, and the Rangers now must prevent him from coming anywhere near those numbers again. They can stomach a solo homer here or there, a few stray singles. It's the sustained assault that the Rangers need to avoid. With Texas two losses away from elimination entering Game 4, their postseason life depends on it.

"My plans were the same as always," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Try not to give him anything to hit. [Saturday] night we made four mistakes in the middle of the plate. That can't happen. We'll try to make an adjustment [in Game 4] and see where it goes. He's a complete player, but we've just got to execute better."

In 14 games this postseason, Pujols had been intentionally walked four times, one more than Yadier Molina. But after Saturday, Pujols probably anticipated the Barry Bonds treatment when the series resumed at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

During the 2002 World Series, Bonds was intentionally walked seven times as the Angels beat the Giants in seven games. Bonds batted .471 (8-for-17) with a ridiculous .700 on-base percentage, but Anaheim limited the damage overall. Bonds had four homers but only six RBIs -- the same number of RBIs that Pujols collected Saturday night.

"If you make good pitches on a good hitter, you're going to lessen his chances," said C.J. Wilson, the Rangers' Game 5 starter Monday night. "If you throw it down the middle, you're going to increase his chances. And [Saturday] night, all his home runs were pitches like right down the middle, at least as I watched in slow motion in the clubhouse or in the video room."

More to the point, Wilson didn't dismiss the value of putting Pujols on when necessary. For the Rangers' ace, it involves swallowing some pride. But that's a much better alternative than watching Pujols single-handedly destroy Texas again.

"If he's their singular guy that's capable of hitting three home runs in a game, then you've got to be smart," Wilson said. "I've used strategic unintentional walks or unintentional-intentional walks before. So depending on who's batting behind him, I know what I'm going to do. But I'm not going to talk about it."

As for Washington, he still has faith in his staff's ability to get Pujols out -- on occasion. On Pujols' first homer, a two-run shot off the concrete second-level facade in leftfield, he drilled a high 96-mph fastball from Ogando. Washington maintained that was pure Pujols and not necessarily a bad mistake by his reliever.

"It so happened it was Albert Pujols," Washington said. "I wish it was John Doe, and maybe it would have gone by him."