That's just as good! Nice! That's a lot quicker and more efficient way of walking a batter.
That was actually Cardinals' pitching-great
Bob Gibson's philosophy: instead of issuing an intentional walk, you might as well just hit the batter with a pitch.
Bob Gibson
I think they took Pujols out because they have an insurmountable lead, the field is wet, it's raining, and Pujols is too valuable to risk getting injured on a wet field.