30 games this season. He batted as low as eighth in the l

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ST. LOUIS -- If this is Albert Pujols farewell tour with the St. Louis Cardinals, its coming on the grandest of stages. The three-time National League MVP has consistently avoided discussing free agency and was not making exceptions on the eve of the World Series. Swatting aside questions about his future not once but three times Tuesday, the big bat for the wild-card Cardinals was insistent on staying in the moment. "Lets talk about something else," Pujols said. "Lets talk about baseball. I dont concentrate about that." Contract talks can wait just a little longer for the front office, too. General manager John Mozeliak declined to estimate the odds Pujols will be batting third on opening day in 2012 for the Cardinals after building a Hall of Fame resume in his first 11 seasons in St. Louis. Mozeliak has gone all year without addressing that weighty topic after Pujols cut off negotiations on the first day of spring training, and found no reason to break the truce now. "I think at this point well table all free agents until our season ends," Mozeliak told The Associated Press. "The way Id like to look at things from tomorrow on is just enjoy the experience. "Its been a very unique ride and its time to step back and just enjoy it," he added. Pujols has been at the forefront of a team that disposed of the 102-win Phillies and Brewers, the club that finished ahead of them to win the NL Central, since completing an improbable comeback to take the wild card. Hes batting .419 with two home runs and 10 RBIs and an on-base percentage near .500 in the post-season, keeping his free agent value sky high. Hes very much on the minds of the Texas Rangers. Texas lefty C.J. Wilson, who opposes St. Louis Chris Carpenter in Game 1 Wednesday night, will be facing Pujols for the first time. Hes worried about the big bats surrounding Pujols, too. Lance Berkman provides power from the left side and Matt Holliday is regaining his stroke after missing time with a finger injury. Sixth-place hitter David Freese was the NL championship series MVP and is batting .425 with four homers and 14 RBIs overall in the post-season. "Hollidays the biggest human being Ive ever seen," the Rangers Ian Kinsler said. "Hes humongous. And youve got Pujols right in front of those guys." So theres a lot to consider. "Its an American League lineup, just like ours," Wilson said. "Its the same way I have to navigate a Yankees game or a Red Sox game or anything like that." Pujols, he knows, is the key. "I made a joke the other day, Yeah, Ill just throw it down the middle, because Im not going to tell you guys what my game plan is," Wilson said. "You cant just go there and try to be macho and throw the ball as hard as you can. "I think you guys have seen that hes hit like 500 home runs or something like, so its not really a good idea," Wilson said. Pujols is the first player in major league history to hit 30 homers, drive in 100 runs and hit .300 each of his first 10 seasons and missed by a hair of making it 11 in a row this year -- he batted .299 and had 99 RBIs. Manager Tony La Russa has always been sensitive to overpraise, but in this case cant help himself. "I said after his rookie year, hes the best player Ive ever seen, and that was 10 years ago," La Russa said. "I cant tell you what a privilege it is to watch the guy for 11 years, the way he plays the game and the way he is off the field." Maybe not the best Cardinal, though. At least not yet. Pujols rejects the notion he nearly stands as an equal with St. Louis Hall of Famer Stan Musial, who is graced with two statues outside Busch Stadium. "Stan Musials always going to be the top of this organization, the face of this organization," Pujols said. "Stan Musial is always going to be on top." Around Labour Day, Pujols thought the Cardinals were going nowhere and just wanted to finish strong. Fans showered Pujols with applause during the final regular-season home series against the Cubs, figuring that was his finale. Theyre about to get another bonus shot at attempting to sway No. 5s mind. Teammates have done their part, too. "Chucking the ball across the diamond to Albert Pujols every day, thats something I never thought would happen," said Freese, a hometown star. "Hes one of the greatest hitters ever. Its pretty incredible to put on the jersey next to him." NOTES: The Cardinals plan to place starter Jake Westbrook on the World Series roster in place of Kyle McClellan, who only pitched one-third of an inning in the NLCS. Westbrook could be a hedge in case Carpenter, who had a minor elbow issue after his last start, encounters trouble. ... 2B Skip Schumaker, who has recovered from a pulled side muscle after a cortisone injection, also is likely to be on the roster in place of rookie OF Adron Chambers. cheap jerseys .com) - Boston Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino will start the 2014 season on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. wholesale nfl jerseys . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively. http://www.salecheapjerseyswholesale.com/. Media reports had suggested Kaka, who joined Madrid for a fee of 65 million euros (C$92 million) in 2009, may be on the move before the Aug. 31 transfer deadline with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Arsenal among the clubs linked. cheap nfl jerseys . Virtue and Moir, the defending Olympics champions, will take the ice for their short program as part of a busy Saturday that also features the ladies short program and the pairs free skate. wholesale jerseys . After a 99-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, his Celtics coaches and teammates have only positive things to say about the Toronto-born rookie.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Prince Fielder had a pair of RBI doubles to end a drought of 39 at-bats without an extra-base hit and Yu Darvish worked into the seventh inning to earn his first victory in almost a month as the Texas Rangers trounced the Los Angeles Angels 14-3 on Sunday. J.P. Arencibia hit his first home run and Michael Choice added a three-run shot for Texas. Darvish (2-1) shrugged off first-inning homers by Erick Aybar and Albert Pujols to get his first victory since April 6 at Tampa Bay. He allowed three runs, seven hits and no walks in 6 1-3 innings, with nine strikeouts. His teammates scored three more runs than they totalled in his five previous starts combined. The right-hander is 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 career starts against the Angels and has won his last six decisions against them Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (2-1) lasted just 2 2-3 innings in the shortest of his 19 big league starts, giving up six runs. Pujols shrugged off an 0-2 pitch by Darvish that glanced off the front of his helmet in the fifth inning as he closed his eyes and turned his head to the right. He remained in the game after a trainer checked on him at first base. The Rangers built a 5-2 lead after two innings with Fielders identical run-scoring doubles -- both line drives over the head of first baseman C.J. Cron and just inside the foul line. Arencibia, who put left fielder Raul Ibanez against the bullpen fence on his bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the first, made it 6-2 in the third with his homer to left-centre. Choice, who had four RBIs, increased the margin to 9-2 in the fourth with his homer to left-centre against KKevin Jepsen.dddddddddddd Alex Rios capped a five-run ninth with a two-out bases-loaded triple against Nick Maronde. All five runs were unearned after right fielder Collin Cowgill dropped Josh Wilsons flyball for a two-base error. Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, who began Sunday in a 4 for 49 slump, was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and a walk after manager Ron Washington dropped him to ninth in the order for the first time since April 17, 2010. Andrus had started in the 2-hole in each of the first 30 games this season. He batted as low as eighth in the lineup six times during the previous two years, and got a hit in each game. NOTES: Angels reliever Michael Kohn grazed Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch leading off the fifth. ... Pujols homer was his 10th this season and 502nd of his career, two shy of Eddie Murray for 25th all-time. ... Howie Kendrick flied out to right field all three times he faced Darvish, and is hitless in 19 career at-bats against him. ... Angels RF Josh Hamilton, who hasnt played since April 8 because of a torn ligament in his left thumb, will start taking batting practice at the end of the week at the teams Arizona training facility while the team begins a road trip in Toronto. ... The Rangers, who opened the season with three games against Philadelphia, resume their interleague schedule with four in a row against Colorado. The first two will be at Coors Field. ... Rangers LHP and former Angel Joe Saunders is scheduled to make a rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Frisco. He hasnt pitched since his season debut on April 4 because of stress fracture in his left ankle. ' ' '