Pujols has three HRs, six RBIs in 16-7 win

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Compared to Albert Pujols, Texas looked more like Rhode Island for one night. Or Delaware. In a state that prides itself on being bigger and better, no one stood taller during last night's World Series Game 3 than Pujols, whose five hits, six RBIs and three home runs made it the greatest offensive performance in World Series history.

The larger-than-life Pujols came up so huge, in fact, that he overshadowed the Cardinals' 16-7 pounding of the Rangers, a victory that gave St. Louis a 2-1 edge in the series. How big? Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson are the only other players to have three home runs in a World Series game. Paul Molitor was the lone player with five hits. Hideki Matsui and Bobby Richardson were the only other players with six RBIs. As for Pujols' 14 total bases, that's a record.

"It's pretty special," Pujols said. "Those guys are great players, and to do it at that level and on this stage is amazing. But at the same time, I didn't walk into the ballpark today thinking I was going to have a night like this."

How could he? What Pujols did, all-around, was unprecedented. Amid all the early chaos of a critical blown call, sloppy play and horrendous pitching, Pujols' sheer power silenced the crowd of 51,462 on three different occasions.

In the sixth inning, he launched a three-run shot off Alexi Ogando that caromed off the concrete façade of the second-level club deck in leftfield. In the seventh, Pujols crushed a line drive off Mike Gonzalez that reached the left-center bleachers almost instantly for a two-run blast. It was insane that the Cardinals even pitched to him in the ninth, but they did, and he homered against Darren Oliver.

Ruth did it in 1926 and 1928, both times against the Cardinals, and Jackson did it against the Dodgers in Game 6 in 1977. Pujols is the second NL player to hit three in a postseason game, joining the Pirates' Bob Robertson, who did it in the 1971 NLCS.

"There was a couple times in that dugout about the middle of the game somebody kept saying, 'He's having a day he'll never forget,' and that's kind of what he did," Tony La Russa said. "He's the latest example of how great he is. You saw it tonight."

Heading into Game 3, Pujols had homered once in 11 World Series games, a stretch of 46 plate appearances. He was 0-for-6 in this Fall Classic. But after grounding out in the first, he reeled off five straight hits.

Maybe it was a coincidence that Pujols unleashed that fury on the Rangers a day after taking heat for blowing off the media after his Game 2 error. Whatever the reason, if Pujols stays this hot, it's bad news for the Rangers, who were blown out despite scoring seven runs.

"Between him and [Miguel] Cabrera, you need to outlaw them," Ron Washington said. "They're just that good. When the opportunity presents itself to put him him on the bag, I'm not going to let him swing the bat. I saw him on TV, but I'll tell you, tonight was something special."

The Cardinals built leads of 5-0, 8-3 and 12-6 during an eventful first six innings that had just about everything. Twenty-one hits, seven pitchers, four homers, three errors -- all by Texas -- and one badly blown call by first-base umpire Ron Kulpa.

Texas pulled to within 8-6 by scoring three runs in both the fourth and fifth. But the Cardinals relentlessly padded their lead again in the sixth, helped by a very loud homer by Pujols.

Ogando left a 96-mph fastball up in the strike zone and Pujols drilled it off the second-deck façade. The blast was estimated at 423 feet and appeared to fall just a few inches shy of reaching the club seats, a feat that has been accomplished only 15 times since the stadium opened in 1994. Only two opposing players have done it -- the Rays' Evan Longoria and current St. Louis hitting coach Mark McGwire.

After getting burned by Kulpa's bad call -- which largely was at fault for their 5-0 deficit -- the Rangers began to flex some muscle in the fourth. Michael Young's leadoff homer got the crowd into it, and after a single by Adrian Beltre (four hits), Nelson Cruz got the Rangers back in the game with a two-run blast.

The Cardinals scored four runs in the fourth using a rally that began with a terrible call by Kulpa, the first-base umpire. After Pujols' leadoff single, Matt Holliday grounded into what should have been a 6-4-3 double play. But in taking the pivot at second, Ian Kinsler delivered a high throw to first that forced Mike Napoli to reach up for it as he came off the base. In one motion, Napoli grabbed the ball and slapped the tag down on the back of Holliday's neck. It happened in plenty of time, as Holliday was a stride away from the bag. But Kulpa, who was diagonally across from the bag on the infield dirt, signaled safe.

"I saw a replay when I walked off the field," Kulpa said, "and the tag was applied before his foot hit the bag."

Napoli reacted in disbelief. Matt Harrison, who had drifted toward first, held his head in his hands and shouted "Oh my God!" The Cardinals immediately took advantage with two straight hits, including David Freese's RBI double, and scored four runs.

"We got beat tonight," Washington said. "They swung the lumber and there wasn't much we could do about it. We just couldn't stop them."