Don't Mess With Albert

The man's a wrecking ball:

It’s hard to imagine things getting worse for the hapless San Diego Padres.

They did.

One day after reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy was placed on the disabled list, pitcher Chris Young and catcher Josh Bard sustained injuries that knocked them out of Wednesday night’s 11-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Young and Bard were injured within a span of two batters in the third inning. Young had his nose broken and cut when Albert Pujols lined a shot off his face in the third inning that sent blood streaming down the front of his jersey. Bard sprained his left ankle on a play at the plate when Pujols slid into his leg.

“When I hit it, I thought it was going over his head,” Pujols said. “But it hit him right in the face. “There was blood all over the place and I began to pray about it and make sure it was all right.”

...

After a few minutes of sitting on the grass, Young walked off holding a bandage on his face with blood on the front of his jersey.

“It was a pretty tough night,” Pujols said. “After that, I couldn’t concentrate on my other at-bats. I kind of had flashbacks thinking about that at-bat.”

Pujols’ shot ricocheted to the left side of the infield for a single and loaded the bases with one out. After Cla Meredith replaced Young, Ludwick’s grounder knocked in one run and advanced the runners. Glaus then lined a single to right to score Miles to put St. Louis up 3-2.

Brian Giles’ throw arrived at the plate at the same time as Pujols, who slid and caught Bard’s left leg. Bard went down and stayed on the ground for a few minutes before he was helped off the field, dragging his leg.

“It’s a pretty tough night to take,” Giles said.

There was nothing dirty about the play at the plate. Bard got his foot in an awkward place and couldn't block the plate with the bulk of his body. Albert just slid over his outstretched foot which rolled pretty severely. I guess it isn't broken, but they are putting Bard on the DL anyway.

You don't like to see anyone get hurt, but if Albert was gonna have a night like this couldn't he have been playing the Cubs?