~ Albert Pujols has been on a seasonlong tear despite lingering injuries.

ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols says he's got an aching back. Somehow, it's the pitchers who are suffering.

Earlier this month, the reigning NL MVP missed a game due to stiffness, and since returning to the lineup he's reduced his batting practice cuts. The production remains high, with major league leads in home runs (18) and RBIs (43) after hitting a pair of key long balls to help the St. Louis Cardinals take two of three from the Colorado Rockies earlier this week.

"It's bothering me, it's bothering me a lot," Pujols said. "There's nothing you can do right now.

"It's either sit down for 15 days and let it heal or keep going with pain, and that's what I'm doing pretty much, playing with pain."

Pujols, who also is batting .328 with an NL-leading 35 runs, contends he's been at a disadvantage lately because he's been unable to capitalize on certain pitches. But he'll get no sympathy from the opposition, which sees no letup in a succession of savage strokes that produce power to all fields.

Pujols hit 201 homers his first five seasons, second best in major league history and trailing only Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner. But until now he's never been a contender for the home run title.

This season he's become the second-fastest player to reach 18 homers, getting there in only 35 games. While Barry Bonds chases Babe Ruth's still magical 714, Bonds is being pursued by Pujols.

In his record 73-homer season in 2001, Bonds reached 18 homers in 42 games. Pujols also is well ahead of former Cardinal Mark McGwire's 70-homer season in 1998, in which he hit No. 18 in Game 43.

Then again, the only player faster to 18, Cy Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1923, finished with only 41.

Pujols played a pivotal role in the Cardinals taking two of three from the much-improved Rockies with a three-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, followed by a two-run shot in the first inning on Wednesday.

"He's a game-changer," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "That's about as big a compliment as anyone can pay a player."

For some reason, the Rockies and every other team continue to challenge Pujols. This, despite slow starts from his protection, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds.

Even if Edmonds is hitting .243 and Rolen has been stuck on 13 RBIs since April 16, partly due to illness, Pujols knows that other teams know their pedigree.

"I have the guys behind me, and if they don't pitch to me they're going to make them pay," Pujols said. "If they want to walk me, so what?

"The idea is to do whatever it takes to win some games."

The Cardinals had the day off on Thursday, not that Pujols expected a huge improvement when the team begins a three-game series tonight against the Diamondbacks. After sitting out at Cincinnati on May 2, Pujols said he noticed no change.

"Sometimes with things like this, sometimes a day off will actually make it worse because it gets stiff," Pujols said. "We'll see how it's going, just take it one day at a time."