ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols has really gotten the St. Louis Cardinals off to quick starts lately. The slugger homered in the first inning for the third time in the last six games and starter Jake Westbrook made it hold up with six innings of one-run ball as the Cardinals defeated the slumping Houston Astros 3-1 on Tuesday night. Pujols hit the first pitch he saw from Houston starter Brett Myers on a line to left centre field. The ball appeared to hit the top of the wall, but was ruled a home run by third base umpire Mike DiMuro. Houston centre-fielder Michael Bourn and left-fielder Carlos Lee rushed in to dispute the call, which was subsequently reviewed by replay and upheld for Pujols 23rd homer. "It was tough for me to see, but the whole reason I thought it was a homer is it bounced like 10 yards over his head," Pujols said. "I thought it hit the concrete off the pad." Crew chief Jim Reynolds said that is exactly what happened. "Once the replay that we looked at showed that it hit the concrete behind it, then its a home run," Reynolds said. Pujols had no problem with the play going under review. "I think thats their job when you have a call like that," Pujols said. "They go inside and have a better view. If it wouldnt have been a home run they would have (changed) the call." Despite the four minute delay to review the call, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said he was never concerned. "We had a good feeling he (DiMuro) had made the right call," La Russa said. David Freese later cleared the fence with ease on an opposite field shot for the Cardinals, who have won five of six. The Astros are going in the other direction. Houston fell to 0-5 on its season-long, 10-game road trip and 0-4 at Busch Stadium. "It seems like things are working against us," Houston manager Brad Mills said. Lee had an RBI single in the third for Houstons only run. He drove in Bourn, who had doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Houston had plenty of chances against Westbrook (9-4), who allowed seven hits and a walk in his six innings. But the Astros went 2-for-17 with runners on base and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Westbrook allowed just the one run on seven hits over six innings of work. "The Astros have a good hitting team and a lot of guys who have done good against me," Westbrook said. "I was able to battle through and get to the sixth." Fernando Salas struck out the side in the ninth for his 19th save in 22 opportunities. Myers (3-11) settled down after the Pujols blast, allowing just Freeses solo shot with two-out in the sixth. He gave up 11 hits but just the three runs with no walks and four strikeouts in eight innings of work while falling to 0-4 in the month of July. "Its an example of how things have been going for us," Myers said. Notes: Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker is batting .368 in July (21-for-57). ... Houstons Jose Altuve reached on an infield single in the first. Altuve has now hit safely in his first six Major League games, one shy of Russ Johnsons team record of seven games to start a career set in 1997. ... Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman was back in the lineup after missing a game to rest a sore shoulder, but left before the start of the fifth inning after going 0-for-2 to snap an eight-game hitting streak. ... Bourn has been one bright spot on the trip. He stole his Major League leading 38th base Tuesday and is 10-for-23 in his last five games (.476). Nike Free Run Schweiz . Still to be determined is whether the few Indian athletes who have qualified for Sochi compete for their country or under the Olympic flag. The International Olympic Committee gave a reprieve to Indias suspended national Olympic body on Tuesday after a long impasse that had threatened to lead to the expulsion of the worlds second most populous nation. Nike Free Run Günstig . Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger announced the news on Wednesday after the team practiced in Edmonton. Petrell has three goals and six assists in 35 games this season. http://www.schuheonlinebilligch.com/nike-air-max-90-essential.html . Robin van Persie put United ahead in the 26th minute, pouncing on a rebound after Wayne Rooney had a shot blocked. But Southampton, one of the surprises of the league this season, troubled United throughout and claimed a deserved point when Lovren bundled in a corner from James Ward-Prowse in the 89th. Nike Free Run 3 Damen . Kinsler, who had been out since May 18 with a ribcage injury, was activated from the disabled list after playing only two games for Double-A Frisco. He was 0 for 8 with a walk in the two games. Nike Free Run 2 Damen . "We cant go on like this. I cant go on like this," said the Jamaican international, sitting hunched on a mat in the team gym. "Its eating me up inside. SEATTLE -- Inside the small club on Seattles Capitol Hill late Monday night, the chant would not be contained by the walls, drifting out onto the street with every urging scream from the performers on stage. "Super," the DJs would shout. "Sonics," was the emphatic reply from the crowd. After months of waiting and politicking, recommendations and reversals, and a remarkable amount of money being thrown around, fans in Seattle will finally learn Wednesday whether they will cheer on a team with the SuperSonics name again or whether the Kings will remain in Sacramento. "I think weve been in this game a long time. Weve had setbacks and weve had gains and if it goes against us well deal with it, but I am confident in our guys: Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen," said Brian Robinson, the former head of "Save Our Sonics," the grassroots fan group that pushed to block the move of the Sonics to Oklahoma City five years ago. "They are willing to put the resources into making this happen one way or another." "May," remains the important word as the NBA Board of Governors meets on Wednesday in Dallas to tackle the issue of whether the Kings stay in Sacramento or are allowed to move to Seattle, where they would be rechristened the SuperSonics. Investor Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have had a deal since January to buy a 65 per cent controlling interest in the Kings from the Maloof family. Hansen originally offered a total valuation of $525 million, then increased that offer to $550 million after a competing Sacramento group matched his deal. He hoped to move the team to Seattle to replace the original Sonics, who were relocated and renamed the Thunder in 2008. After months of staying quiet and letting the process play out, the Hansen and Ballmer group went on the offensive following the NBA relocation committees decision on April 29 to recommend denying the move. The Hansen and Ballmer group elbowed its way back into the conversation using money and creativity. It started last Friday when Hansen increased his total valuation of the Kings from $550 million to $625 million. Hansen also announced on his website that he has guaranteed owners that the franchise would pay into the leagues revenue-sharing system if it was in Seattle and not collect money as it has in Sacramento. On Saturday, word leaked of a backup deal with the Maloofs to purchase a minority interest in the Kings with the Maloofs remaining the controlling party. The limited partnership would be a purchase of at least 20 per cent of the Maloofs stake in the franchise at a valuation of $600 million, but the Hansen/Ballmer group would retain a two-year option to ppurchase majority control.dddddddddddd They were bold and aggressive moves by the Seattle group. And for fans, they were a needed boost. "If they had folded, we would have folded," Robinson said. All that brings the whirlwind back to Wednesdays meeting in Dallas and likely the last chance to provide clarity. Anyone who says they definitively know what will come out of the meeting is likely just taking educated guesses. The roller coaster both cities have been on emotionally since January has come with stomach-knotting twists and turns that have provided little clarity about what the final answer will be. Will the Kings stay in Sacramento with an ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive and plans for a new downtown arena? Will the Maloof family remain majority owners with Hansen and Ballmer as minority investors in a Sacramento team? Will Hansen and Ballmer be successful in throwing enough money into the pot that owners are swayed to give the Kings a one-way ticket to Seattle? Or will expansion finally be a plausible solution that could satisfy both markets despite the NBAs stance thus far that expansion wont be discussed until after the leagues next television deal is negotiated? "Im really excited. I think there is an opportunity for this saga to end," Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said before boarding a flight at Sacramento International Airport on Tuesday. There is just as much apprehension in Seattle, where the criticism of the NBA has quickly risen since the relocation committees recommendation. Fans already feeling burned by the league after the messy Sonics divorce are having flashbacks. "If they spurn us again and were not offered a clear path toward a franchise at some point we have to say, Do they want us to be their customers?" Robinson said. "I think the NBA needs to recognize that this is a very special moment and probably the opportunity to reclaim this market because of the work a lot of people have done on the ground here." On Monday night, those concerns were forgotten for a few hours. Bouncers were forced to turn fans away from the club after capacity was reached and then exceeded. Those fortunate to arrive early and stay inside raised their bottles at every scream of the word "Sonics," and they treated former Seattle great Shawn Kemp like a rock star when he took the stage. Kemp was the same as the others, keeping hope that Wednesdays result would see a return of the Sonics. "Theres only been a couple of times, a couple of times in this whole ordeal where my spirit has been broken," Kemp said. "But I can promise you this, Mr. Hansen has definitely kept my spirit up." cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '