Over the course of a 162-game season, it’s easy to lose sight of how important each and every game is. Some divisions are already all sewn up and have been for seemingly months. That’s not a luxury the St. Louis Cardinals have, however, and they continue to play great baseball as they look to win the NL Central. After their win on Wednesday night, the Cardinals are once again top of the division, albeit tied with the Chicago Cubs. The two teams are only 1.5 games up on Milwaukee in what looks to be a race that could go all the way to the wire. It was first rookie Dakota Hudson that flourished on the mound against the Kansas City Royals, pitching six superb innings and allowing no runs on just five hits. His counterpart, though, had a chance at history but instead had it back fire in shocking fashion. Brad Keller had a no-hitter going into the seventh. Then the Cardinals started to decimate him, with five runs being plated in the frame after some ‘small’ ball. An inning later, Paul DeJong’s homer made it 6-0, completing the scoring and ensuring a sweep of the two-game series for the Cards as well as a fifth straight win for them.
Albert Pujols just keeps on keeping on. The Los Angeles Angels’ man made history on Wednesday night as he went to #1 on the all-time hit list for foreign players. With two hits in the game, along with three RBIs and two runs scored, Pujols had his pulse all over it just like he’s had on the entire league for the last decade plus. The 7-4 victory for the Angels does little to change the standings for either them or their visitors, the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it’s yet another feather in the cap of Pujols as he surpassed Adrian Beltre with his 3,167th hit. The Dominican Republic slugger now is also 15th all-time on the list regardless of country of origin. The 39-year old may not have the same pop he once had, but he’s still plenty capable, as he showed on this night.
