I think it’s safe to say Albert Pujols is out of his slump. He entered Tuesday night’s game against the Mets in an 0 for 12 skid. That ended with a 4-5 night at the plate with five RBI, including a grand slam in the 10 th innings as the Cardinals beat the Mets 12-7.
Joel Pineiro, who entered the game 2-0 against the Mets this year was in-line for the loss after giving up seven runs in five innings. Meanwhile, Johan Santana wasn’t perfect, but came into the 8 th inning with a four run lead. That lead was cut to 7-5 when Pujols hit his 35 th home run of the year.
Back to back doubles by Rick Ankiel and Julio Lugo and a one out single from Skip Schumaker off of Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriquez tied the game at 7-7. It was Rodriquez’ fourth blown save of the year. Then in the 10 th , Ankiel and Lugo started it again with one out singles of Mets’ reliever Pedro Feliciano. Colby Rasmus walked and Schumaker struck out swinging. With two outs, Jerry Manuel brought in pitcher Sean Green who hit Mark DeRosa with his first pitch for the go-ahead run. With the bases still full, Pujols drove an 0-2 pitch to left center that just made it into the firs row to blow the game open.
This was Pujols’ fifth grand slam of the season tying the NL record set by Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. The Cardinals’ win keeps them tied with the Cubs in the NL Central.
Ryan Ludwick was named the NL player of the month for July. With all of the talk of Pujols and the acquisitions of Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa, Ludwick quietly started the month red hot and finished strong where he hit .340 with five doubles, six home runs and 18 runs scored in 27 games in July. He also posted a .570 slugging percentage and a .396 on-base percentage.
The Cardinals have also shut down Troy Glaus, who now has a bulging disk in his lower back that has not responded to treatment. Glaus was on a rehab assignment at AA and AAA for shoulder surgery in January. There is no timetable on when or if Glaus will return this year.
