MLB.com: Two Pujols swings enough for Cards

Whatever you call it, though, Pujols thrived. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning that put the Cardinals ahead, his 27th of the year. After Wellemeyer surrendered three runs in the second inning, Pujols added another two-run shot in the third that gave St. Louis the lead for good. It was his Major League-leading 28th home run of the year, and his sixth multi-homer game this season.

Starter Kevin Slowey entered the game with a 10-2 record, but was gone quickly, thanks to Pujols.

“He’s got pretty good stuff,” Pujols said. “The record that he has talks by itself. With this heat, he got in a little bit of trouble and left a couple of pitches up on me and I took advantage.”

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“We said we weren’t going to let him beat us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “But we made bad pitches today and he put them in the seats. [I’m] very disappointed because when you go into the series, you know that he’s the one guy you are going to be careful to and not let him beat you but he did today.”

Pujols leads the NL/MLB by 4 homers and 5 RBIs and is 9th in the NL in average...and hits 20 points higher in the second half for his career. Come on, triple crown…