CREVE COEUR — San Francisco Giants lefthander, future Hall of Famer and 303-game winner Randy Johnson left a 0-2 pitch over the plate and Albert Pujols pounced. He launched the ball some 445 feet — more on that shortly — on a trajectory that, to the first-glance eye, appeared to go where no ball had gone before.

At first, it looked bound for the undiscovered country of Clark Street.

“I think the ball will probably be landing sometime shortly,” Johnson joked with reporters after the game.

Harder to tell is when the St. Louis Cardinals will find some footing. Losers of three straight, losers of seven of nine and in danger of losing three of their previous four series, the Cardinals are looking for a stopper — and looking to stop squandering what is probably the best run of production by the game’s best hitter. It’s hard to ignore the big-number pace Pujols is on. Could be 60 homers. Could be a franchise record for RBIs. Would be a shame not to channel all of that into a long-run at October.

Pujols has 30 home runs by the end of June, which is only the 10th time in baseball history that someone has reached that number by that date. The list is a motley group. It’s got folks who sat before Congress and one guy who bragged about making more than the President because he had a better year. Here’s what it doesn’t have: A guy who finished the 30-by-July season with less than 40 home runs.

Most finished with much, much more. And that’s where today’s experimental live 10@10 begins:

1. Pujols is the seventh player to reach 30 homers by the end of June, and he’s the first since two National Leaguers did it in 2001. Here is the list, but not just the list. Included with the names is how many homers they had as of June 30 and … how many homers they had in that season.

• 2001 … Barry Bonds … 39 … 73
• 2001 … Luis Gonzalez … 32 … 57
• 1999 … Sammy Sosa … 30 … 63
• 1998 … Ken Griffey Jr. … 33 … 56
• 1998 … Mark McGwire … 37 … 70
• 1998 … Sosa … 33 … 66
• 1994 … Griffey … 32 … 40
• 1930 … Babe Ruth … 30 … 49
• 1928 … Babe Ruth … 30 … 54

What stands out here — more than the names, more than the stains — is the 64-year gap between Ruth and Griffey. And then not a gap of less than four years until today, when baseball went eight years.

2. The Cardinals have faced in three consecutive nights three candidates — two for performance, one for history — to start for the National League in a few weeks here at Busch Stadium in the 80th All-Star Game. Tim Lincecum, according to the Giants, is on turn to be available for the honor. Even if he’s the most-dominant, he may not be the most-deserving … on his own team. The game is here, so that’s today’s poll:

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3. The invaluable Web site Hit Tracker has already worked its magic on Pujols’ first home run from Tuesday night. The in-house estimate of the homer was 445 feet. Hit Tracker calculates it at 465 feet — what would be the longest home run this season by a Cardinal and the longest home run yet at Busch Stadium. It breaks the record held, according to the site, by Pujols’ 457-foot shot in 2006. (Check his scatterplot from 2009 here.) Hit Tracker draws out the “actual path” of the home run to show how it would clank off the fence separating Busch from Clark.

Projected path of Pujols' home run off Randy Johnson. (Courtesy: Hit Tracker)

4. Voting ends tomorrow for the All-Star Game. Log on. Vote now. Vote often. Some of the positions — particularly in the American League — are still close to call, and we’ve seen late-surges sweep a player into the starting lineup before. (Yes, I mean Milwaukee.) … And, speaking of voting. ESPN has a poll this morning asking, “Who is the best hitter in Cardinals history?” There are three options. Click away.

5. Pujols’ 30 home runs by the end of June make him only the second Cardinals to reach the mark. The other, of course, is Mark McGwire. He had 37 by the end of June in 1998. Barry Bonds holds the record for most homers by the end of June. He had 39 in 2001. McGwire coupled 87 RBIs with his homer binge by July in that polarizing season of 1998.

6. The breakdown of Pujols’ home runs this season:

• 17 solo home runs
• 9 two-run home runs
• a three-run homer
• 3 grand slams

7. The Cardinals had been involved in four of the most economical games of the season — what with Cliff Lee and Lincecum throwing ones against them, and Joel Pineiro throwing two for them — so it’s fitting that arguably the best game pitched this season in the National League was thrown by … a former Cardinal. Jason Marquis twirled a two-hit shutout against the best team in the league, blanking the LA Dodgers on Tuesday. What sets Marquis’ two-hitter apart from, say, Lincecum’s two-hitter earlier this week and Pineiro’s two-hitter last week in New York is the opponent, sure, but also the unbridled expediency of it. Marquis dispatched the Dodgers in 86 pitches. More than just sweetening his bid for an All-Star selection, Marquis also moved into the lead as the NL’s only 10-game winner. Manager Jim Tracy called it as “special” as anything he’s seen in 7 1/2 years “behind the desk,” and closer Huston Street stumped for Marquis as an All-Star.

8. FARMNIK REPORT: Abbreviated today because of time constraints. It’s enough to say that Brett Wallace, the first-round pick who is as beloved as a backup quarterback in these parts, extended his hitting streak to 14 games. He went 3-for-4 with a home run for Class AAA Memphis. His average is up to .291.

9. And today’s CUBS IN CHAOS report, direct from Chicago: Aramis Ramirez could return to the lineup as soon as Monday, according to Paul Sullivan’s report in the Chicago Tribune. Ramirez has been on the disabled list since May with a dislocated left shoulder. And as Cardinals fans will happily tell their cousins third baseman returning from shoulder injuries always go smoothly. Always. No doubt. Power returns in a snap. Absolutely.

10. Pinch-hit as a co-host Wednesday with FSN Midwest’s uber-anchor Pat Parris on his 101 FM/ESPN show, which can be heard streaming at the radio station’s home page from 9 a.m. to noon. I’ll be sitting in for Manny-happy Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bryan Burwell while he continues his quest for the Golden Adverb, the writing tool that allows all who hold it to “hit the hole”.

Welcome to an in-progress 10@10, updated throughout the morning …

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