Albert Pujols injured his left calf on Tuesday night while attempting to run out a ground ball in the 7th inning of the Cardinals' 7-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. He only made it a few steps before buckling to the ground, and had to be helped off the field.

Pujols had hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, and leads the Cardinals with 16 homeruns. He is also 3rd in the National League in batting average, hitting a cool .347. The Cardinals had only recently acquired the services of slugger Rick Ankiel who had been out with a knee injury. While the Cardinals have remained close behind the upstart Cubs in their division, despite all their injuries, a long term injury to Pujols would put a serious dent in their playoff hopes.

Luckily, the injury was not a tear in the muscle, as Pujols' initial reaction had seemed to indicate. Pujols will begin rehabbing the strained muscle in the next few days, and shouldn't miss more than a few weeks.