As St. Louis prepares to oppose Albert Pujols for the first time since he packed up his Cardinals uniform for good, it can do so plenty pleased with where the organization has gone and what it has accomplished since learning it would be moving forward without No. 5.

Albert Pujols will share some laughs with old friends, Angel Stadium will fill and baseball fans all over the country will be intrigued by a generation’s greatest player facing the franchise he almost singlehandedly elevated. But there’s an unavoidable storyline here, which makes this marquee reunion a little, well, awkward.

July means All-Star Week is right around the corner here, and Major League Baseball announced on Monday that its T-Mobile All-Star FanFest on July 12-16 at the Jacob K. Javits Center will feature a daily theme this year, offering unique events and giveaways centered around youth, diversity, families, military and local heroes.

On Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, Cleveland’s Justin Masterson threw a six-hit shutout, beating the White Sox, 4-0. It was the third shutout of the season for Masterson, and his second of the year against Chicago.

Record-breaking heat has scorched parts of this country lately. This must mean July has arrived, with summer well in gear and Independence Day and its tradition of hot dogs, apple pie and baseball only three days away as we flip the page on the calendar. Things are moving along in this Major League season, too, but, as always, not a whole lot is defined with more than two weeks until the All-Star Game.

Before tweeting became a verb, trending meant something different, too. And in baseball, the sport with a marathon schedule that has a certain mathematical timeliness to it, midseason trends always have shown quite a bit about how things might turn out in the end.

Baseball is returning to its classic form. The best teams in the game are the ones with the best pitching. The idea of a club simply bashing its way to the top, hey, that is so 1998.

The Angels unquestionably have their work cut out for them if they’re going to avoid missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year, but their six-game winning streak shows they could make a run.

Chris Davis continued his home run barrage with No. 31, and Manny Machado and Nate McLouth also contributed solo homers as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the visiting Yankees with a 4-2 victory Sunday night Camden Yards.

Russell Martin hit a clutch walk-off single, driving in Gaby Sanchez in the 14th inning to give the Pirates a 2-1 victory Sunday. Vin Mazzaro threw five perfect innings in relief after a rain delay of over two hours.

Madison Bumgarner allowed one run on four hits in seven strong innings and Buster Posey and Hunter Pence backed him with long balls to lead the Giants to a 5-2 win Sunday at Coors Field, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Yasiel Puig made L.A. rookie history with four more hits, Hanley Ramirez continued his barrage at the plate and Stephen Fife earned his third victory as the Dodgers beat the Phillies, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Sunday’s 7-5 win over the Cardinals wasn’t the prettiest showing by the A’s in the month of the June, but it did secure a second consecutive series win over one of the best teams in baseball.

Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer bounced a single up the middle in the eighth inning on Sunday to extend his club-record hitting streak to 27 games, the longest in the Majors this season.

With a 4-for-5 effort in the Dodgers’ 6-1 win over the Phillies on Sunday, rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig finished June with 44 hits, second in history in the first month of a career to Joe DiMaggio’s 48 in May 1936.

Yu Darvish fanned eight in 6 2/3 innings to earn his first victory since May 16 as the Rangers beat the Reds, 3-2, on Sunday at the Ballpark.

Albert Pujols takes on the Cardinals for the first time since signing with the Angels when the Halos open a series against St. Louis on Tuesday in Anaheim.