WASHINGTON -- Albert Pujols hit his 44th homer of the year, and fifth in three days, in support of Jeff Suppan as the Cardinals beat the Nationals, 2-0, at RFK Stadium on Tuesday.
Pujols has pulled within two long balls of his career high with 25 games remaining in the season. He has a decent shot at becoming only the second player in franchise history to reach 50 homers in a season, along with Mark McGwire.
Pujols' shot, a mammoth blast off the mezzanine-level scoreboard in left field, gave Suppan a one-run lead before he took the mound. The right-hander, who has struggled on the road this season, took the advantage and ran with it. He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.
Suppan improved to 5-2 since the All-Star break. In that span, he's allowed one run or no runs in seven of his 10 starts.
The Cardinals added a second run on a strange play in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out, catcher Yadier Molina hit a potential double-play ball to shortstop. Felipe Lopez fielded the ball cleanly, but second baseman Bernie Castro booted the throw, and no out was recorded as Scott Rolen scored.
The Cardinals have won eight of their past 11 games. They maintained a six-game lead over second-place Cincinnati in the National League Central, and their magic number to clinch the division dropped to 19. Third-place Houston was rained out on Tuesday, falling 7 1/2 games back.
CINCINNATI -- When bitten by his most recent injury, Ken Griffey Jr. knew what he was dealing with. However, the Reds center fielder couldn't say how long it would keep him out.
Griffey dislocated the second toe on his right foot on Monday against the Giants. He and right fielder Ryan Freel were both trying to climb the outfield fence in an unsuccessful attempt at stopping a Barry Bonds home run.
"When I went up at first, I didn't have a good grip on the wall," Griffey explained. "I started to slide down and got caught, and that's when I felt it.
"My other concern was not landing on Freel."
As expected, Griffey was not in the Reds lineup on Tuesday. Freel started in center field, with Todd Hollandsworth the starter in right.
In an odd bit of timing, Griffey injured the same right foot exactly one year ago, Sept. 4, 2005, in Atlanta. It caused him to miss the rest of the season. He also suffered a season-ending right ankle injury in 2003, but the 36-year-old wasn't worried he was revisiting either of those issues this time around.
"I knew exactly where it was at," Griffey said. "I knew it wasn't my ankle. And it wasn't in the same spot where I had surgery last year. It felt like a knot on my foot."
Griffey is batting .251 with 26 home runs and 69 RBIs in 138 games this season. Despite being in a 0-for-12 skid, he was still batting .299 since Aug. 5. The slumping Reds definitely need his bat back soon, but it wasn't revealed when they'd get it.
"We just have to wait for the swelling to go down and then see," Griffey said. "It's not a good time to do anything with anybody's body, especially with how we've played the last 12 days."
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