SAN DIEGO • The day after snapping the longest home run drought of his 11-year career, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols voiced frustration over media perceptions of his season as well as his uncommon number of near misses.
Pujols insisted he experienced little sense of relief over his solo home run against San Diego righthander Dustin Moseley on Monday. The shot snapped a string of 105 at-bats, dating to April 23, without a homer. It also represented the Cardinals' first run in what ended as a 3-1 victory.
"I can care less about numbers. I don't care what people say and people write," Pujols said. "The media takes it to another level. If you think about hitting home runs, you're in trouble. Focus on quality at-bats and what the guy's doing at the plate instead of getting caught up in stupid numbers."
Pujols put together three quality at-bats to open Monday's game. The first ended with a catch at the center field warning track, leaving Pujols visibly frustrated. The second also became an out, on his deep line drive to center field. Finally, on what most considered his least-impressive plate impressive of the three, Pujols yanked a home run into the first row of bleachers.
"I can get hot and hit four or five home runs and so what? With home runs, when it rains it pours," he said. "You can't get caught up in all that. My job is to help this team win. It's not to go up there thinking about hitting the ball out of the ballpark. Who cares about all that? I know I have the power to hit a home run in any park from corner to corner. I don't go up there thinking about that. I go out there to have quality at-bats."
Pujols admits to struggling for much of April. However, he defends the quality of at-bats for most of the season, insisting that a .268 average and his eight home runs heading into Tuesday's game offers a misleading barometer of where he stands.
Asked whether he thinks he now is having quality at-bats, Pujols replied, "I have all year. But not to you guys. To the eyes of the media and you guys, no."
Pujols made similar remarks Friday in Kansas City, when he dismissed writers as "geniuses" and said, "I don't trust anyone in the media."
Pujols vividly recalls losing several home runs at the deepest recesses of several parks, including Busch Stadium. He drove a ball to the Kauffman Stadium warning track during the previous series that he thought would leave the park.
Regarding his shot in the first inning Monday to the Petco Park track, Pujols thought to himself, "You've got to be kidding me. It's just like at home."
The Cardinals managed a 17-10 record during the period between Pujols' seventh and eighth home runs. That kind of team success would have been unlikely last season when the club drafted behind Pujols and left fielder Matt Holliday.
"It's what kind of team we have. Everybody is here to contribute," he said. "There's not one guy here who can carry the club. You might be hot for a couple series ... but there's nobody here to carry a club for 162 games. It's why we've had success this year; it's different guys every night, different heroes."
Pujols scoffed at any suggestion that he has been physically compromised the last several weeks. He blamed "analysts" for erroneously tying last month's mild hamstring strain to his 27-game homer-less streak.
"Everybody can say whatever they want. I don't care what people say. When you think you're right, you're wrong. When you think you're wrong, you're right," he said.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and hitting coach Mark McGwire took turns endorsing Pujols' approach before and after Monday's game.
McGwire joined the chorus that believes media attention on Pujols has become overblown.
"It's kind of ridiculous," McGwire said. "He's been great."
Pujols remains defiant.
"If it's going to be all year like that, then it's going to be all year like that," Pujols said. "My job is to try to make sure I have quality at-bats. At the end I know everything is going to fall in place. I hope."
Cruz starts, delivers
Catcher Tony Cruz made his first major-league start Tuesday and delivered a sharp single to center field in his first plate appearance, doubled in the seventh inning and singled in the ninth inning. La Russa initially planned on withholding Cruz' first start until this weekend's series against Colorado but changed his mind based on pitching matchups.
"You saw his potential," La Russa said after the game. "He caught well, blocked the ball. He's still a developing catcher, but he's at a nice level right now and should get better. He stands at the plate and has a very nice swing."
Cruz, 24, became the second Cards rookie in a week to deliver in his first big-league at-bat. Infielder Pete Kozma doubled against Houston last Wednesday, becoming the first Cardinal since Rule 5 draftee Brian Barton in April 2008 to hit safely in his first at-bat.
Et Cetera
Left fielder Lance Berkman rose slowly after making a hard first-inning slide into second base Tuesday. Assistant athletic trainer Barry Weinberg accompanied Berkman into the outfield but was assured by Berkman he could continue. Berkman reached base on an infield single that Padres first baseman Brad Hawpe threw wildly to allow the game's first run to score.…
• La Russa gave Jon Jay the start in center field over slumping Colby Rasmus. Jay entered eight-for-19 during a four-game hitting streak, then continued his hot streak with a single in the first inning. Rasmus, meanwhile, had endured a 0-for-12 trip that had dropped his batting average to .282. Rasmus, who came in as a unsuccessful pinch-hitter Tuesday then played in center field, had struck out 43 times and walked 30 times before the game. The combination accounted for 36.3 percent of his plate appearances.
