Cubs hurlers ponder: Do you pitch to Pujols?

Squeezing a hobby knife with his trusty left hand, Ted Lilly sat by his locker stall looking as focused as a surgeon while trying to deftly carve a slot in an empty plastic water bottle to use, he said, as a toothbrush case.

The Cubs all-star pitcher will have to be equally precise and perhaps just as resourceful when he faces St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Pujols and the first-place Cardinals open a four-game series, which includes a day-night doubleheader Sunday, today with Rich Harden on the mound.

With the All-Star Game not until Tuesday night in his home ballpark, Pujols, the reigning National League MVP, leads the majors with a staggering 31 home runs and 82 RBI. His .331 batting average ranks third in the NL, making him a threat to win the triple crown.

The first baseman also tops the league in on-base percentage (.459), slugging percentage (.725), run scored (67), walks (69), extra-base hits (51) and total bases (208).

"The secret's out - Albert's a great hitter," Lilly said of the two-time MVP. "My philosophy is, it's a great opportunity to pitch against him, but you can't let him beat you."

Cubs second baseman Aaron Miles spent the previous three seasons as Pujols' teammate in St. Louis.

"You watch how he carries himself, the hard work that he does, his attention to the opposing team's pitching staff, his attention to his own swing and how hard he works on it day in and day out - it's amazing," Miles said. "For a guy that has that much talent and is that big of a superstar, you would think he just got called up and is trying to impress the coaches by how hard he's working.

"That's a big reason why he's the best and why he'll go down in history as one of the best to play the game."

As a teammate, Pujols might be as great as he is a hitter.

"He helps everybody out on the team with scouting the opposing pitcher, picking up tendencies," Miles said. "He's real good at picking up tendencies and real good at sometimes picking up things in pitchers' motions when they throw a certain pitch. He's one of the best at it."

If he keeps up his current pace, Pujols will have a legitimate chance to hit 60 home runs - something no player has done since 2001, during the so-called steroid era, when Barry Bonds hit a record 73 and Sammy Sosa socked 64.

Pujols hit a career-high 49 homers in 2006. He has 350 home runs in this his ninth season.

"In '06 he had 28 or 29 at the all-star break, and he was unbelievably hot," Miles said. "Then he ended up getting hurt a little bit that year.

"The key is if he stays healthy. If he does that and if he stays hot, there's no reason why he can't hit 60. He'll have a little more protection when they get (Mark) DeRosa back (off the disabled list) and (Ryan) Ludwick starts hitting the ball. The whole 'don't pitch to Pujols thing,' I don't know if you can really do it because those guys can hit, too."

Pujols also leads the majors this season with 4 grand slams. It was May 28, 1998 when then Arizona manager Buck Showalter ordered closer Gregg Olson to intentionally walk Bonds with the bases loaded and the Diamondbacks leading by 2 runs with two out in the ninth inning.

After passing Bonds, Olson got the next hitter, Brent Mayne, to line out and Arizona won 8-7.

So, if he were in a similar situation, would Lilly have a problem with intentionally walking Pujols with the bases loaded and forcing in a run?

He wouldn't rule it out.

"I would be willing to do whatever it took to win the game," Lilly said. "If that was the case, then that's what I'd have to do. But I don't see that happening."

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