NEW YORK • With the pursuit of Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt having cooled significantly, in part because of his team's hesitance to trade the ace within the division, the Cardinals remain on the lookout for pitching but are less optimistic about pulling off a trade before Saturday's deadline.

A report surfaced Wednesday that the Cardinals were interested in Baltimore third baseman Miguel Tejada, and while the Cardinals contacted the Orioles about the veteran, a source said there was "no traction" for a deal.

The Cardinals have had interest in Tejada before, and though the former MVP's time as an everyday shortstop are behind him, some Cardinals officials have viewed him as an option at several spots in the infield.

The Tejada report raised a question about the Cardinals' view of rookie David Freese's recovery from foot injuries. General manager John Mozeliak said Freese continues to mend from a deep bruise in his right ankle and a busted toe on his left foot. His timetable has not changed, Mozeliak said, though he cautioned that "everything from a (disabled list) standpoint means there's always uncertainty." The preference, Mozeliak repeated, is to add a starter at a middle-infield position and not another utility fielder.

"If we felt like there was an indication that Freese wasn't going to be back until September or not at all, it would be a different equation," Mozeliak said. "I don't have that sense."

CARDS PROMOTE MacDOUGAL

Continuing the musical-chair approach to one spot in the bullpen, the Cardinals promoted righthander and fresh arm Mike MacDougal from Class AAA Memphis. A former All-Star who served as Washington's closer late last season, MacDougal was 2-0 with one save and a 3.86 ERA in eight games with Memphis. The Cardinals picked him up after Washington released him in July.

To make room for MacDougal, the Cardinals optioned Fernando Salas.

MacDougal made his debut Wednesday in the 12th inning, pitching a one-two-three inning en route to the victory. Ryan Franklin pitched the 13th for his 19th save.

PUJOLS NEARS 1,500

Cardinals first baseman and three-time MVP Albert Pujols played his 1,499th game Wednesday, and when he reaches 1,500, he'll already rank among the Cardinals' all-time leaders with that many games played. His 389 homers through 1,499 were 150 more than the 239 Ken Boyer had through 1,500 games. Pujols' 410 doubles are six more than Stan Musial had after his 1,500th game, and his 1,182 RBIs entering Wednesday were already ahead of the 1,500-game pace of Jim Bottomley, who had 1,105.

There was an unusual number, however, that Pujols took into his fourth at-bat Wednesday: a .293 batting average.

"None of us have seen it very much," manager Tony La Russa said of Pujols, who has never hit less than .300 in a full season. "I think he'll be a .300 hitter when the season is over."

Pujols entered the game in a one-for-20 slide and was hitless in two at-bats in the Cardinals' six-run first inning. He felt a stiffness in his side Tuesday, but it "loosened up" through the game. A pregame check by La Russa on Wednesday confirmed that he was healthy to play.

"It's the same way I've been good for nine years," Pujols said of his dropping average. "At the end of the day, there's a big picture. Do I want to do better? Of course. As a competitive athlete, you want to do better. It happens more this year than my last nine years. But it happens."

Pujols ended up three for seven, upping his average to .298, and drove in the winning run with a single in the 13th inning.

THE MAN IN THE MAG

Hall of Famer and Cardinals icon Musial makes his seventh appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week - but this time, for the first time, he's alone. Stan the Man is the subject of a lengthy feature story in the magazine's annual "Where Are They Now?" issue. The article is subtitled, "What modern baseball can learn from Stan the Man." In the article SI senior writer Joe Posnanski notes that in "St. Louis (there's) an unmistakable feeling that when we lose Stan the Man Musial, we lose something precious and wordless and irreplaceable. There's a feeling here, an unmistakable feeling, that as a nation we already may have lost it."

Posnanski, a former Kansas City Star columnist, wrote a Musial story on his personal blog that began with how the great had never been thrown out of a game. La Russa gave each player a copy of that article in spring training.