The St. Louis Cardinals are tied for the best record in baseball so far this season. Last night they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 to up their record to 11-4, thanks in part to a 2 run double off the bat of Albert Pujols in the very 1st inning, and a defensive gem from Pujols in the 9th where he stopped a Jason Kendall line drive dead in its tracks.

“That’s my job as a first baseman—try to make a play every time I can,” Pujols said after the game. “[I like to] have an idea what the hitter will try to do at the plate and try to read it. That’s what I did. Jason Kendall tries to stay inside the ball every time, and I wanted to make sure I was on my toes.”

The sources of offensive power in the game were quite surprising. Hitting the first homer of the game for the Cardinals was pitcher Adam Wainwright; it was the first of his career.

“I take pride in my hitting, because I believe it can really swing the result of a game,” Wainwright said. “If the pitcher is up there swinging the bat, keeping his team in the game and putting a quality at-bat on the pitcher and getting base hits, there’s always a better chance for you to score runs.”

The other home run came off the bat of Skip Schumaker, who had just 3 lifetime home runs entering last night’s game. However, after the game he was singing the praises of teammate Adam Wainwright for his offensive prowess.

“I’m sure he would have let me know after the game that we were tied,” Schumaker said. “He has a fun time with that always, telling me how much better a hitter he is. He can hit. He’s an incredible hitting pitcher. But I’m glad I got one ahead of him, because I don’t want to hear it every day.”

After the game, Adam Wainwright talked about how his team has surprised the media, who had pegged this team as a non-contender.

“Nobody expected anything out of us,” Wainwright said. “We knew we were a good team, but it’s important for us to keep this train rolling and not be satisfied with what we’ve done so far.”