Albert Pujols: Cardinals Stay in First Without Their Star Slugger

St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols has made an incredibly quick comeback from his wrist injury and has been cleared by doctors to return to action.

After sitting out a mere two weeks with a fractured wrist suffered on June 19th against the Kansas City Royals, Pujols is scheduled to be back in action Tuesday night against the division rival Cincinnati Reds.

While he was out the team wasn't incredible, but they are still in first place in the National League Central division. I'm sure Cardinal fans are more than happy to take it.

St. Louis went 6-7 in his absence to put their record at 46-40, with the Brewers (one game back), the Pirates (1.5), and the Reds (3.0) all within striking distance.

The team got off to an awful start in his absence, losing 5-of-6 games to the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays. After the horrid homestand, the Cardinals went on the road and quickly turned things around.

They swept the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards, scoring at least five runs in every ballgame. The offensive outburst continued with another five run output and win in Tampa, before the wheels came off a bit and they dropped the final two in the series. 

On Monday they opened up a huge four game series against the Reds and it was a dandy. In an incredible pitchers duel, Chris Carpenter led the way in a 1-0 win over Johnny Cueto and Cincinnati.

The offense was beginning to scuffle without him and his return will surely give them a boost. With six games to go before the All Star break, the Cards can really put themselves ahead of the competition?and especially the Reds. The 2010 division champs have struggled this season and a three-game sweep would give the Cards a comfortable five game lead.

With two games left in this huge series, the Cardinals now have the services of Pujols once again.

Now we?ll see if Pujols can pick up right where he left off, as he was hitting .339 with eight homers and a 1.265 OPS in the 16 games leading up to the injury.

Sara Spraker Alexis Bledel Kim Kardashian China Chow Alecia Elliott