ST. LOUIS—That’s what Joe Maddon called tonight’s game, and who can argue?

Awfully impressive all-around performance by Andy Sonnanstine, a guy the rest of the Rays already love having on the mound. Add his opposite-field hitting stroke to the equation and, well…let Maddon do it stream-of-consciousness:

“Gets down a bunt, runs the bases, two knocks, pitches eight innings, gives up one [run], gives up a bomb and then strikes out Pujols, the next hitter, and gets [cleanup hitter Rick] Ankiel on a groundball. I mean, come on. He couldn’t have had a better night. He could not have done anything better tonight.”

If things had gotten out of control after that eighth-inning homer by Chris Duncan, maybe you’d say he’d like that one back, but the way he put down Pujols and Ankiel right after it, no harm done.

Look, I haven’t had a chance to watch Pujols regularly for a while, but I saw plenty of him in three years covering the Reds full-time, and I’ve seen what he’s done lately. The guy is a flat-out amazing hitter.

Entering tonight, the Cardinals had played 43 games this season, with Pujols participating in 42 of them. He had reached base in all 42 games and collected a hit in 14 straight games. He didn’t get the ball out of the infield tonight against Sonnanstine. That’s pitching.

So is throwing 76 strikes in 98 pitches.

“That’s ridiculous,” Maddon noted.

Sonnanstine works fast, throws strikes, usually finds a way to minimize damage and almost always keeps the Rays in the game. He has won 11 of his last 14 decisions and the Rays have won the last six games he has started. Again, they love to see this guy on the mound.

“I like his competitiveness out there,” said Percival. “Having a guy on the mound that’s competitive is better than having a guy with great stuff sometimes.”