• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Cards try to push the Rangers to the brink in Game 4

Oct 23, 2011 - 2:20 PM (Sports Network) - On the heels of Albert Pujols' record-setting performance, the St. Louis Cardinals try to move to the brink of a world title this evening when they play Game 4 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark.

Pujols joined Babe Ruth (1926, 1928) and Reggie Jackson (1977) as the only players to hit three home runs in a World Series game on Saturday, as the Cardinals grabbed the series lead in a 16-7 rout.

"There were 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," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "What did he get, five hits, three home runs? And against that club, there wasn't any of that production we didn't need. He's the latest example of how great he is. You saw it tonight."

Pujols smacked a three-run homer off Alexi Ogando in the sixth inning and a two-run shot off Mike Gonzalez in the seventh. With two outs in the ninth, Pujols then took a Darren Oliver fastball over the wall in left field.

"All you try and do is just put a good swing," Pujols said of the final homer. "Don't try to expand the strike zone, and hopefully let the barrel of the bat catch the ball and maybe go out of the park. But I wasn't thinking about it."

The five hits and six RBI by Pujols also matched a World Series record.

"I felt that I swung the bat pretty good the last couple of games and...that's the way baseball goes," Pujols said. "It is what it is, and you just have to make sure you don't get frustrated and just make sure that you bounce back the next day, that whatever it takes our ballclub to win. Obviously it's a blessing to be able to do that today."

Earlier, Pujols became the first player in World Series history with hits in four straight innings. He hadn't had a hit in the first two games and it was his error in the ninth inning of Game 2 that helped the Rangers rally from two runs down.

The Cardinals scored 15 runs between the fourth and ninth innings to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Yadier Molina drove in four runs for the Cardinals. Allen Craig, the second batter of the night, hit a Matt Harrison pitch over the wall in left field.

A blown call opened the door for the Cardinals in the fourth inning. The Rangers should have turned a double play in what was a 1-0 game, but Ron Kulpa, a St. Louis native, ruled Matt Holliday safe on a poor call despite first baseman Mike Napoli clearly applying the tag in time.

St. Louis scored four times in the fourth, three in the fifth, four in the sixth and twice in the seventh to become the first team in Fall Classic history with four straight multi-run innings.

Michael Young and Nelson Cruz homered in the fourth for Texas, which got four hits and an RBI from Adrian Beltre. The Rangers were within 8-6 after five, but Pujols crushed a 423-foot homer off the facing of the second deck in left the following inning.

"He's a strong kid, and no one felt worse than Ogando when he didn't get the job done," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "But it's our job to make sure that his confidence doesn't wane. We've got his back, and he got a ball up to Albert, and he didn't miss it. After that, he just couldn't command the baseball."

Tonight the Cardinals will turn to righty Edwin Jackson, who lasted just two innings of his last start and is 1-0 this postseason with a 5.84 ERA. Jackson was roughed by the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 6 of the NLCS, as he allowed four runs and four hits - three home runs - in just two frames. The Cards, though, went on to win that game and have won all three of his starts this postseason.

"He went out there and he tried to be perfect," La Russa said of Jackson's last start. "I think it's a good experience for him, and he'll benefit [in Game 4] because of it."

With a taxed bullpen Texas will need big effort from lefty Derek Holland tonight. Holland, who tied for the AL lead with four shutouts during the regular season, was a 16-game winner for the Rangers this year, but has pitched to a 5.27 ERA in four postseason appearances. But, like Jackson, the Rangers have won each game he has appeared.

Holland made two relief appearances in last year's Fall Classic and walked three batters who all scored in Game 2 against San Francisco, then pitched a scoreless inning out of the bullpen later in the series.

"You know what happened. We can bring it up, and everything," Holland said. "I went out there, threw 13 pitches, two for strikes, but I bounced back the next time I got out there.

"And to be honest, now that I'm getting to start, I have a lot more that I want. I really want to win this. I've been there. I got a taste of it, the Giants beat us. I feel like I've got a lot to prove after what happened last year, but it's obviously not going to take me out of my game or what I have to do for this next start."

St. Louis took two of three from the Rangers in Arlington in their only other visit there back in 2004.