Good evening from Busch Stadium. What a comeback. What a ballgame. The Cardinals take it, 5-3, from the Brewers to keep hope alive in their desperate quest for the Wild Card playoff spot.

The Cardinals’ four-run rally in the eighth to erase a 3-1 deficit was the story of the night. And the crucial win put them to 3.5 games behind the Brewers, which is a lot better place to be than 5.5 games with 28 contests remaining.

But almost as compelling was the drama on the field after Milwaukee reliever Carlos Villanueva got Joe Mather to pop up to hush a bases-loaded threat and end the seventh inning.

The Cardinals say Villanueva pumped his fists, flexed, and pointed into their dugout.

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was deeply offended and confronted Villanueva as the teams were leaving the field at the end of the 7th.

For those who missed any of the post-game sound on FSN Midwest, I’ll try to provide an unoffocial transcript of Pujols’ comments. I did some editing and left out some of the loose ends that weren’t important. I also wrote in some questions here in an attempt to give Pujols’ comments the proper context:

Q: What happened there with you and Villanueva?

Pujols: “When they start pointing into the dugout, and doing and saying all the things that he was saying, a guy that respects the game like myself, I don’t appreciate that. And I had to let him know. And I guess he did us a favor because he woke up a sleeping giant. We came back and responded with four runs in the eighth inning. They have a young ballclub. They’re pretty good. I respect the way they play the game. And when you see a guy disrespecting the game – obviously they pretty much beat us all year long. You don’t have to do a stupid thing like that to disrespect this game. I let him know I didn’t appreciate it. He was still yelling and talking crap and running away. I wanted him to stop and face me. I respect this game. And I didn’t appreciate the way he disrespected us. I didn’t care if he yelled, but when you start pointing into the dugout, that;s not professional right there.”

Q: Was this something that Pujols felt he had to do as the leader of the ballclub?

Pujols: ”If I see anybody on our ballclub doing stupid stuff like that, I’m going to pull them to the side, and I’m going to (get) into their face. You don’t do that on this level.”

Q: Does Pujols really believe that Villanueva ‘woke a sleeping giant?’

Pujols: “He did us a favor. We came back and we pulled it the through. And I’m glad he did that. So I congratulate him for doing that to us.”

Q: What did Pujols say to Villanueva?

Pujols: “I told him to shut up and go to the dugout, he doesn’t have to do that. That’s when he said something in Spanish that I don’t want to say to you guys. But that’s when I got fired up. I told him to stop and come and say that to my face, but he was running away. That’s allright. I’m going to see him later.”

Q: Did Villanueva curse Pujols?

Pujols: “Yeah, very much. But I didn’t care about the things he said to me. It was more that he disrespected my team by pointing into the dugout. He can curse me out and say whatever he wants. I don’t care. But when he disrespects my teammates I need to stand up for my teammates. I don’t appreciate that.”

Note from Bernie: I was wondering about Pujols’ tendency to stare at his home runs at times … which has drawn criticism from some media and fans. Isn’t that showing up the pitcher? Isn’t that disrespectful? Seems that Albert goes too far at times. But before anyone could ask that, specifically, Pujols addressed the difference — at least as he sees it:

Pujols:  ”I don’t care, I don’t care about (Villanueva) getting excited. It’s the same as hitting a ball out of the ballpark and showing off to the pitcher. But when you start pointing and doing a bunch of crap and doing it to the other dugout … I don’t care if he would have pointed to their dugout and gotten fired up. It’s a big series. It was a big out he got with the bases loaded. He could have done whatever he wanted by pointing to their dugout and getting fired up. But he pointed to the wrong way, to our dugout. I didn’t like that. I had to stand up for my teammates.”

Pujols’ gesture wasn’t overlooked by teammates.

Catcher Yadier Molina heard what Villanueva said to Pujols, and began to bark at the Brewers pitcher.

And Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus said: “Albert is the leader of this team and he stood up for his teammates. It was nice to see.”

OK, a few comments from this here scribe on the episode:

* While Pujols’ actions were admirable — very much so — I think it’s a real stretch to believe the 8th inning rally was a direct result of what happened at the end of the 7th when Villanueva made a fool of himself. I think the Cardinals were pretty desperate at that point; they just had to win that game. While Glaus conceded that “a little (motivational) fire doesn’t hurt,” he politely contested the notion that Villanueva caused the Cardinals to raise their agression and their game.

“Lookit, we’re going to play hard no matter what,” Glaus said. “We’re not going to put out any more effort just because something like that happened. That’s not who we are or how we go about playing the game.”I know that goes against an attractive storyline, but I think Glaus is right …* No, the 8th inning comeback wasn’t ignited by Villanueva. It was ignited by Pujols, who had a great AB against tough RH Milwaukee reliever David Riske, drilling one to right-center for an opposite field double. Pujols’ leadership in confronting Villanueva wouldn’t have meant much unless Pujols, the great hitter, stood up to stroke that double to get something positive underway in the 8th. Ryan Ludwick - who absolutely should be the full-time cleanup hitter — followed with his own double to make it 3-2. Glaus singled in Luddy to tie it at 3-3. And  Glaus made a heads-up baserunning move, taking second base on CF Mike Cameron’s throw home. Then Molina chipped in with an unselfish and smart AB, pushing the ball to the right side for a 4-3 ground out that moved Glaus to third.  Next, manager Tony La Russa won the manager’s duel against Milwaukee’s Ned Yost. With LH hitting Skip Schumaker up, Yost brought in lefty reliever Brian Shouse. Skip doesn’t hit lefties well, so La Russa countered with someone who does: infielder Aaron Miles, a .311 hitter against LHP. And Miles was 2 for 4 against Shouse. Miles didn’t have a great AB, but he chopped a ground ball to shortstop J.J. Hardy, who hurried his throw home to nab Glaus. The throw short-hopped catcher Jason Kendall, and Glaus scored for a 4-3 STL lead. Bottom line: Miles got it done. And after a nifty SAC bunt by pinch-hitter Braden Looper, Felipe Lopez singled to in Miles to make it 5-3. The Cardinals played intelligent, opportunistic, sharply executed baseball in that home half of the 8th. La Russa used his personnel the right way. A pitcher, Looper, came off the bench to execute a SAC bunt. Glaus ran the bases perfectly. The thumpers (Pujols and Ludwick) got the ball flying. Miles put the ball in play. Lopez did what he had to do. Molina gave himself up to move Glaus over. I’m probably forgetting something; just about everyone who stepped on the field for the Cardinals in the 8th put in their piece.

Did the chucklehead Villanueva incite the Cardinals? Maybe.

But I’d like to think that Pujols got ‘em going, and the Cardinals kicked in and played an excellent inning of baseball.

* One more thing: I don’t understand the Brewers. I just don’t. Really, I admire that team and its talent. Doug Melvin is one of the best guys in the game and an excellent GM. There are so many good players on that roster. But why do the Brewers always have to pull stunts? Why do they have to go knucklehead on us so often? What’s up with yanking their shirts out of their pants on the field as soon as they win a game, which, despite what they claim, really is an insult to the other team? What’s up with some of the showboat HR trots? What’s up with a journeyman like Villanueva gesturing wildly and cursing in the direction of the STL dugout? I don’t understand why this talented team feels that it needs to act up like NBA bad boy Ron Artest, or something. I don’t understand why this Milwaukee team feels the need to be controversial. I don’t understand the arrogance, considering that the Brewers have won NOTHING since 1982. And I don’t understand how Yost continues to allow it to happen. The Brewers will probably make the playoffs. They are that good. But we must ask: can you fellas at least hold off on the showboating until you actually win something?

Oh, and one more thing before I go.

Two words: Chris Perez.

Thanks for reading, and sorry I broke my vow to write shorter blogs… but I guessed you might want to see all of Pujols’ comnents.

-B