St. Louis All-Star Albert Pujols said on Monday that he will not participate in the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby this year.
The three-time NL MVP said he’s participated in the event three times and felt he could say no this time around. Pujols’ comments were first reported by FoxSports Midwest.
Pujols had 32 homers and 87 RBIs heading into the 2009 All-Star game in St. Louis. He had 15 homers and 48 RBIs the rest of the season.
Pujols is batting .305 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs this season. The MLB All-Star Game will be played on July 13 in Anaheim.
In other Cardinals’ news…
St. Louis overcame a three-run ninth inning deficit to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 on Monday.
After giving up two first inning runs, D’Backs starter Danny Haren mowed down the Cardinals for seven innings until he ran into trouble in the ninth when Arizona’s defense committed two errors.
Haren was relieved by Aaron Heilman in the ninth, who induced infield grounders to all three batters he faced.
But Heilman and first baseman Adam LaRoche committed throwing errors that allowed the Cardinals to score three runs and steal the victory.
Heilman rushed a wild, off-balance toss to third on pinch-hitter Adam Wainwright’s sacrifice bunt to allow one run.
LaRoche threw in the dirt to the plate attempting to prevent the tying run from scoring on Skip Schumaker’s RBI groundout against a drawn-in infield, allowing the tying and game winning runs.
