Banner day for Pujols

Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning for his 1,000th career hit and finished with four RBIs to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 9-3 on Friday night in St. Louis.

Pujols tied Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies for the second-fastest active player to reach 1,000 hits with his 11th homer. He and Helton needed 3,003 at-bats, or 26 more than Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.

Pujols also set a franchise record for home runs in April, topping the mark set by Mark McGwire in his 70-homer season in 1998, with nine games to spare. He added a two-run double in a seven-run second that chased Cubs starter Jerome Williams, against whom he’d been 1 for 12 for his career entering the game.

‘Tough week’ for Bowden

In his first public comments since being charged with drunken driving, Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden said he regretted “the embarrassment” and strongly denied scuffling with his girlfriend shortly before their arrests.

“It was a difficult time for me, and I feel really bad about the incident and the embarrassment I caused my family, my friends, the Washington Nationals, Major League Baseball, all of our fans,” he said. “It’s been a tough week, and it’s unfortunate.”

Bowden was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol early Monday morning after allegedly running a stop sign in Miami Beach, Fla. About 10 minutes earlier, according to police, Bowden and girlfriend Joy Browning were seen arguing but assured police they were fine.

When they stopped Bowden’s car, police said they noticed scratches on his right ear and left cheek and told Browning she would be arrested on a domestic violence charge.

She refused to get out of the car and struck one of the officers twice after he took her cell phone, according to the police report.

Browning was charged with simple battery, felony resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence.

MLB disagrees with Forbes

Major League Baseball objected to Forbes magazine’s financial analysis of the industry, which said 25 of the 30 teams had operating profits last year.

“Forbes has never had access to financial information from Major League Baseball or the individual clubs,” Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president of labor relations, said in a statement. “The estimates published in the current issue of the magazine materially misstate the financial performance of the industry as a whole and of the individual clubs.”

In its May 8 issue, which was released Thursday, Forbes said the only teams with estimated operating losses in 2005 were the New York Yankees ($50 million), Boston Red Sox ($18.5 million), New York Mets ($16.1 million), Florida Marlins ($11.9 million) and Los Angeles Angels ($2.6 million).

“They make these numbers up,” Manfred said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

Burnett ails again

Toronto right-hander A.J. Burnett left the Blue Jays’ game against Boston after four innings because of a sore elbow.

Burnett, who signed a five-year, $55 million deal with the Blue Jays in the off-season after spending seven seasons with the Florida Marlins, began the season on the DL after scar tissue broke off in his elbow March 18 during spring training.

Burnett will be examined by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.

Clearing the bases

Atlanta second baseman Marcus Giles’ injured middle finger might keep him out only four or five days, much less than originally feared, manager Bobby Cox said. … Cleveland reliever Rafael Betancourt was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained upper back. … The Texas Rangers sent struggling outfielder Laynce Nix to Triple-A Oklahoma and purchased the contract of outfielder Adam Hyzdu. … The Kansas City Royals placed outfielder David DeJesus on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring. … The Colorado Rockies designated pitcher Zach Day for assignment and called up pitcher Miguel Asencio from Triple-A Colorado Springs. … The Oakland Athletics recalled right-hander Chad Gaudin from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned outfielder Bobby Kielty to Sacramento.