DENVER — St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa may believe that Pirates closer Matt Capps intentionally hit Albert Pujols with a pitch Sunday, but Capps insists it just isn’t true.

“He was obviously upset, as he probably should be,” Capps said Monday before the Pirates opened a three-game series on the road against the Colorado Rockies. “It’s his best player; (Pujols) would probably be the best player on any team. He’s naturally got to protect him. He probably really honestly does feel that way, but I know that’s not the case.”

On Sunday at PNC Park, Capps yielded a two-run home run to Skip Schumaker in the eighth inning. Pujols was the next batter, and after throwing a strike with the first pitch, Capps hit the reigning league MVP in the left side with a fastball and was immediately ejected.

The Pirates went on to suffer their eighth loss in a row, 7-3, to close out a 10-game homestand. They were off Monday.

Capps said after the game that he didn’t hit Pujols on purpose, but La Russa thought differently. Not only did the manager believe it was intentional, but also that there was no doubt in his mind that it came from the Pirates’ bench. He declined to say from whom he thought the direction came, but did say he didn’t think it was manager John Russell.

“It’s his opinion, that’s all I can say,” Russell said yesterday.

Capps, who has allowed eight home runs this season, had been successful in 15 straight save situations before Sunday, going back to May 16 against the Rockies. He picked up his career-high tying 21st save July 31 and is just four saves shy of becoming the ninth player in Pirates history to earn 25 in a season.

But Sunday’s loss was the latest in a string of recent late-game collapses for the Pirates. During the 10-game homestand, they led after six innings seven times but won only twice.

Pujols said after the game that he didn’t think Capps hit him intentionally, but that it looked bad given Schumaker’s home run just prior to his at-bat. Schumaker said they had their feelings on what happened, and that he’d leave it at that.

Capps said he could understand where La Russa was coming from thinking the hit was on purpose, but that it just wasn’t the case.

“Whether or not (La Russa) believes me is up to him,” Capps said. “He’s entitled to his opinion. But I don’t know who he thinks would have made that call.”

As of yesterday afternoon, neither Russell nor Capps had heard anything about a possible fine or suspension as a result of the ejection.

“Usually when a guy gets thrown out for hitting somebody, they do something,” Russell said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Capps said he didn’t have a gut feeling on whether or not he’d face additional action from the league.

“It’s out of my hands; there’s nothing I can do about it so there’s no point in worrying about it,” Capps said. “If something happens, we’ll do what we have to do and move forward.”

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