Albert Pujols may or may not be back, but the Houston Astros can confirm that he's here right now. The St. Louis Cardinals slugger, mired in a slump that saw him hit just two home runs in the month of May, hit his fifth home run of June Tuesday night, a deep shot against the Minute Maid Park train tracks reminiscent of his 2005 NLCS visit to Brad Lidge. But it was Jake Westbrook's bases-clearing double that secured the pitcher his sixth win of the season, by a score of 7-4. Lance Berkman also homered for the Cardinals, who now have the best record in the National League.
Carlos Lee hit his fifth home run for the Astros, who at 22-38 have put themselves in position for the top pick in the 2012 MLB Draft through two months of the 2011 MLB season. Brett Myers was undone by Westbrook's double, allowing five runs altogether in six innings to walk away with his fifth loss of the year.
The Cardinals will send ace Jaime Garcia to the mound Wednesday, where he'll face off against erstwhile Cardinals-killer Bud Norris. Thursday's series finale will pit rookie Lance Lynn against J.A. Happ.