Pujols slows down from 4-4 night

Expectations were already high for Albert Pujols as he came of the Disabled List last Thursday.  When he went 0-4, the expectations were lowered.  No, no one thought he’d come in slamming two home runs into the stands, but a lot of us just expected him to come out the way he left—on fire. 

On Friday night, Albert showed that the possibility of doing just that was there.  He did the exact opposite of what he did on Thursday, going 4-4 with two singles, a double, a walk, and in the ninth inning, his 26th homer of the year.  It was a great moment in a very lackluster week for the Cardinals.

In the next two games after his offensive explosion, Albert has quieted down a little bit.  Two straight games he has gone 1-4 at the plate, both hits being singles.  His timing was a little off Saturday against Kenny Rogers of Detroit and again today against Jeremy Bonderman. 

Not to worry though, because I didn’t expect him to go 4-4 every night.  But on a positive note, at one time during this Detroit series, Pujols was on base after 7 straight at-bats.  That’s pretty good after just coming off the DL.

Pujols will get better.  The question is, can his team ever pick up the pace?  A six game losing streak has hampered all talk about Pujols’ comeback.  The Cardinals lost every game of this road trip against the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers.  The team now opens a homestand that features the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals.  The Indians are struggling as of late, and the Royals have been pretty much horrible all season long.   Then again, the Cardinals definitely won’t underestimate either team after the punishment they took these last two series.  The ‘Birds got their tails kicked OFF and then handed back to them.  Let’s hope things get better for Pujols and Co.

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer
On a personal note, I’d like to thank APC for this great opportunity.  Thank you for the chance to write about Albert Pujols even more, and I’d like to thank the readers for the nice comments.  Hopefully the Cards can get everything sorted out since AP is back…
GO CARDINALS!