ST. LOUIS _ With the bases loaded in the ninth inning Sunday night and Albert Pujols, one of the most productive hitters on this planet for two decades at the plate, the moment was rife for one more bit of damage by Pujols at Busch Stadium.
Alas, Pujols hit one of the weakest popups of his 19-season career, a looper to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and got a standing ovation so loud and so long that he popped up again _ out of the dugout _ to salute another capacity crowd with a curtain call.
Pujols tapped his heart as he descended into the dugout and many left the ball park, a little prematurely. Some 142,248 had enjoyed themselves thoroughly this weekend although not quite as much as the first two days because the Cardinals were beaten 6-4 by the Angels in the series finale, although the Cardinals went down firing, scoring four runs in the ninth after the Angels got four in the top half.
Jose Martinez's two-out homer, a 430-foot shot, in the ninth got the Cardinals' rally started. Kolten Wong doubled in two runs and pinch hitter Dexter Fowler delivered another with the Cardinals' third hit off the bench.
Matt Carpenter's single off the glove of pitcher Hansel Robles brought Paul DeJong to the plate as the potential winning run. But DeJong grounded into a forceout to end the game.
In five at-bats, all of which were preceded by standing ovations, Pujols singled twice and grounded out twice before his final popup. For the three games, he was four for 11 for a .364 average, which isn't too far removed from what he did when he was here, terrorizing National League pitchers for 11 seasons.
The Angels had a chance to score many more than the six runs they did have as they had 15 hits and seven walks, stranding
Los Angeles led only 2-0 entering the ninth before John Gant, who had allowed only seven runs all season (1.54 ERA), was peppered with four runs as he walked two and gave up four hits in 1/3 inning.
The Cardinals had missed a chance to put pressure on the Angels in the eighth when pinch hitter Tommy Edman, who has hit for the cycle with only five hits in his brief major-league career, tripled off the right-center-field wall with one out. But Carpenter struck out and DeJong flied out.
