Pujols may miss rest of the season

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols may sit out the rest of the season because of a strained left calf.

Pujols was pulled from the lineup before Tuesday's game against Philadelphia, although he appeared as a pinch-hitter, but missed Wednesday's game.

"If I feel like I can play, I'm going to play," Pujols told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "But the way I feel right now, I would say no. But we'll see the next couple of days."

Pujols, 27, is the only player to record a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in and 100 runs scored in six consecutive seasons to begin a career. He is five RBI and seven runs scored shy of extending that streak. Pujols is hitting .321 with 31 home runs.

The Cardinals close out the home portion of their schedule with four games against Houston and next week have a series at Milwaukee, a makeup game at the New York Mets and a season-ending series at Pittsburgh.

St. Louis is in third place in the National League Central, eight games behind the Chicago Cubs and seven behind the Brewers. They have been eliminated from the NL wild-card race.