This is the infinite embarrassed pitchers theorem: Given enough games, pitched by an infinite number of pitchers, it's eventually going to be a bad decision to bet against Albert Pujols. In this case, Shaun Marcum was the monkey unfortunate enough to type out "Two households, both alike in dignity," but it could have been anybody. Monday night, Pujols just wasn't making the mistakes we saw him make in the regular season. No flailing at sliders on the outside corner, no reaching for pitches he had to look up to see, and—for what it's worth—no brutal double plays.
It would be easy to say that with Albert Pujols the Cardinals are unbeatable, but should he fail to drive in five runs every game I'd have to demur. Given the current makeup of the offense, that Pujols would have to make up for this Matt Holliday, whose injuries appear to have caught up to him after the best OPS (adjusted for league average) of his career.
Down that way is madness—every positive adjustment balanced, if you're enough of a downer, with a negative until all you've realized is that you have no idea how good the Cardinals are at this moment. But this offense has proved, if nothing else, that with or without Albert Pujols, it can crack any pitching staff at any time—and that with him, it can do the kind of damage that leads to a pinch-hitting appearance from Kyle Lohse.
The Cardinals took a game from the Brewers at home and now they have Chris Carpenter up for Game 3 at Busch Stadium. That's a pretty good place for the Cardinals to be with the next three in St. Louis. If Albert Pujols is about to have an Albert Pujols series, it's a fine place indeed.
