It's been two scares in two days for the Cardinals, but friends and teammates Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols are both doing just fine.
Pujols took a tumble in the third inning of St. Louis' game against Baltimore on Tuesday. He collided with umpire Joe West as he attempted to field Nick Markakis' double down the line. Pujols remained on the ground for a moment, clutched his left shoulder as if in pain -- and remained in the game with no problems.
In his next at-bat, Pujols obliterated a pitch that would have been a monster home run had it been fair. He capped the at-bat with a double to right-center field. Both balls were clearly the work of a hitter whose front shoulder is unencumbered by injury.
"I'm fine," Pujols said. "I didn't need to be scared because I was fine. We'll see tomorrow how I feel, but I'm fine. The one thing I was concerned about was swinging, but I swung the bat real good with no problem."
Molina's scare came a day earlier, when he turned his ankle on a play where he was doubled off first base. He was removed from the game against Houston. But the catcher was back in the starting lineup on Tuesday.
"Yesterday it was a little bit hurt, but today it's good," Molina said. "It wasn't that bad. I felt it a little bit, but I ran and it went away. So I wasn't worried about it."
Pujols will have a regularly scheduled day off when the Cardinals go to Vero Beach on Wednesday.
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Notes: Cards dodge injury scares
Notes: Cards dodge injury scares
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