He didn’t want to look.
Merely wanting to keep his third-inning at-bat alive Wednesday night on a nasty outside 0-2 slider, Albert Pujols had one-armed a line drive back at 6-foot-10-inch Padres right-hander Chris Young. Pujols’ immediate thought was that the shot would climb over Young. It instead smacked full force into the pitcher’s nose.
The gruesome aftermath traumatized Pujols, who admitted having little desire for the remaining innings of the Cardinals’ 11-3 win.
“It did bother me,” Pujols said afterward. “And I think I have good reason for it to bother me. Last Sunday, I almost hit somebody in the face with a line drive. … And today I hit Chris, a great guy, a great athlete and a great competitor. It’s tough. It’s real tough.”
Blood spurted from Young’s face. Almost immediately after reaching base on his infield single, Pujols began to walk slowly toward where Young had buckled. Young suffered a fractured and lacerated nose but never lost consciousness. A CT scan taken Wednesday indicated the Young did not suffer any kind of concussion. He was released from a hospital Thursday after receiving stitches.
Matters compounded for Pujols two batters later, when he slid hard into catcher Josh Bard’s left foot on Troy Glaus’ two-run single. Pujols’ hard but clean slide rolled Bard’s ankle, leaving the catcher to writhe at the plate before being carried to the dugout with a severe sprain.
Both Young and Bard were placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday.
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EDITED BY ED CAVANAUGH AND THOMAS L. OUTLAW