La Russa calls bullpen blunder 'embarrassing'

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa leaned back against the wall outside his office Tuesday, closed his eyes and still couldn't let it go, replaying the scene over and over.

"That will go down in my house of horrors," La Russa said.

It had been nearly 24 hours since the Cardinals' blown communication on the bullpen phone in Game 5 of the World Series, resulting in the wrong relievers warming up and entering the game. The blunder played a role in the Texas Rangers turning a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 win, leaving the Cardinals trailing 3-2 as the Series returns to Busch Stadium today for Game 6.

"That's something that's never happened to me before. Never," said LaRussa, who has managed in the majors 33 years, ranking third on the all-time victory list and second with 68 postseason victories. "I guarantee you it will never happen again."

Right-hander Octavio Dotel opened the eighth inning but gave up a leadoff double to Michael Young. La Russa said he immediately called his bullpen and said: "Get (left-hander Marc) Rzepczynski going. … Have (right-hander Jason) Motte play catch."

Bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist, struggling to hear over the crowd noise, heard the Rzepczynski part. He never heard anything about Motte.

"I shouldn't have paused (between the requests)," La Russa said. "There was too long of a pause there."

Dotel struck out Adrian Beltre for the first out, and Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan ordered Dotel to intentionally walk Nelson Cruz. LaRussa went to the mound, and brought in Rzepczynski to face left-handed outfielder David Murphy. But La Russa never looked out to the bullpen to check if Motte was warming up. He retreated to the dugout, and said, "Get Motte going."

Lilliquist didn't hear him correctly. He thought he heard, "Lynn," as in rookie right-hander Lance Lynn.

"All I had to do was look out to the bullpen to make sure," La Russa said, talking to a handful of news reporters outside his office after the Cardinals departed a voluntary workout.

Murphy hit a comebacker to the mound, but Rzepczynski couldn't handle it. It caromed off his glove.

Right-handed hitting catcher Mike Napoli stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, and La Russa realized that no one was warming up. He had no choice but to let Rzepczynski face Napoli, who's hitting .308 with nine RBI in the World Series. On a 1-1 count, he drilled a slider into right-center field for a two-run double. Rzepczynski stayed in the game and struck out left-handed hitting first baseman Mitch Moreland for the second out of the inning.

La Russa went to the mound to signal for Motte to face Ian Kinsler. Instead, he got Lynn.

"I said, 'What are you doing here?'" La Russa said.

La Russa, who planned to use Lynn only in an emergency because he pitched Sunday, told Lynn to intentionally walk Kinsler. Motte then entered the game, striking out Elvis Andrus for the third out.

"That's got to be one of the weirdest things in major league history, doesn't it?" said La Russa, who took full blame for the communication blunder. "That was embarrassing."

La Russa also defended Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, who called a hit-and-run on his own in the seventh inning with Allen Craig on first base. Craig took off running, but Pujols didn't swing on the outside pitch, and Craig was easily thrown out at second.

"If a player has a good feel and can handle the bat, and if he wanted to put a play on, he's been given that right," La Russa said. "It has everything to do with what Albert has earned as far as his understanding of the game."