Pujols fails to come through after dissing Glavine

	Albert Pujols has yet to hit a home run or drive in a run against the Mets in the NLCS. AP
	RELATED • HEYMAN: Piniella closes in on Cubs job • TRUTH & RUMORS: Macha on the hot seat

Also in this column:
• El Duque's return a longshot
• Manager hiring updates
• A-Rod vs. Guillen
• More news and notes

ST. LOUIS -- To borrow a phrase from Albert Pujols that would succinctly summarize his performance through four games of the NLCS: "He wasn't all that good."

Pujols used those very words regarding Tom Glavine after Glavine shut down the Cardinals in Game 1 on Thursday. Now Pujols is 4 for 14 and has had very little impact in a series where the Mets are virtually holding tryouts for the starting rotation.

Glavine, who will start Game 5, has allowed zero runs in the postseason. Symmetrically, through four games Pujols has exactly zero home runs and zero RBIs.

So maybe Mr. Zero spoke a little too soon.

Meanwhile, Pujols is hearing it from Glavine's teammates. On Sunday it was Billy Wagner's turn. As Wagner put it to Pujols, "It's not a good idea to take on a Hall of Famer."

Added Wagner: "If [Glavine] wasn't all that good, then how do you look?"

Pujols didn't run out a grounder in his fourth hitless at-bat Sunday night in the Cardinals' 12-5 defeat. Yet in the eyes of most everyone here, he can do no wrong. (Hold the e-mails; that isn't a complaint. The fans here are the most positive in the country and are almost unnervingly appreciative of a nice play by a visiting player, so good for them.) According to one Met, that feeling may even expand to include the umpires. "You can't throw a strike to Albert Pujols," meaning the umpires won't call one, that Met remarked.

In any case, Wagner defended Pujols, saying he didn't believe Pujols meant his putdown the way it came out. "He's a good guy, very genuine," Wagner insisted. He also excused Pujols for feeling extra pressure. "He's got the weight of the [organization] firmly on his shoulders. He goes 0 for 4, there's a good chance they're not going to win." Which is exactly what happened Sunday night as the Mets evened the series 2-2 with a 12-5 victory.

Wagner felt that the advice should mean something coming from him since he's misspoken a few times. "Take it from me," Wagner said, "I've stuck my foot in my mouth so many times I've lost count."

Meanwhile, Glavine was perplexed by Pujols' remarks. Said Glavine: "I wasn't quite sure where he was coming from. I was pretty happy with the way I pitched."

Beltran vs. Joltin Joe

If the Cardinals don't make it, you can be pretty sure Carlos Beltran will have something to do with it. The mild-mannered Beltran is now booed in two polite towns -- Houston and St. Louis -- but will never again be booed in New York (at least not for a while) after hearing it from the home folks earlier this season.

Beltran is establishing himself as one of the great postseason performers, and he's managed to do it mostly under the radar. He has seven career home runs against the Cardinals in this, his second October series against them, same as Babe Ruth (Ruth's came in the 1926 and '28 Series, as Fox pointed out during its Game 4 broadcast).

Beltran actually has outdone Joe DiMaggio in terms of October performance. Beltran has scored an incredible 29 runs in 19 postseason games. DiMaggio scored 27 runs in 51 postseason games (all World Series games in his case).