ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Albert Pujols circled this date on his calendar when the schedule came out last winter. His first game against the St. Louis Cardinals was certainly a success from a team standpoint, if not a personal one. Jered Weaver earned his second win of an injury-plagued season with help from a five-run second inning, and the Los Angeles Angels extended their winning streak to seven games Tuesday night with a 5-1 victory over St. Louis in the Cardinals first game at Angel Stadium. St. Louis was the only National League club that had never played at the "Big A," having hosted the three previous interleague series between the teams in 2002, 2007 and 2010. Pujols, a three-time NL MVP, spent his first 11 seasons with the Cardinals before signing a $240 million, 10-year contract with the Angels in December 2011. Facing his former club for the first time, he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk as the designated hitter while Mark Trumbo started at first base. "It was a little weird. But I was fine, guys. I swear. Im being honest," Pujols said. "I mean, it would have been a little different if it was in St. Louis. I mean, you cant forget the special times you had with those guys during those 11 years there. Thats something nobody can take away -- the success I had there and how those fans and everybody in the community treated me. Every time I get an opportunity to watch them, I root for them because I still have a lot of good friends there, and I still stay in touch with a lot of those guys. But these are three days that I wont be able to root for them." The first time Pujols came up, he tapped catcher Yadier Molinas shin guard with his bat and Molina tapped Pujols on the back of the helmet with his glove -- a subtle but meaningful display of affection and respect between two All-Stars who were teammates for nine seasons and won two World Series rings together. Pujols then struck out, and Molina threw out J.B. Shuck at second for an inning-ending double play. "It was cool to see him. Hes friends with a lot of us, and Im sure he was excited to see us, just like we were to see him," Cardinals third baseman David Freese said. "But I think Albert goes about every game the same way -- whether its day one of the preseason or day one of the post-season. And thats a huge reason why hes so successful." Weaver (2-4) allowed a run, six hits and no walks over seven innings. The All-Star right-hander struck out five in his ninth start of the year, working with runners on base in every inning but the seventh. "Thats what he does," Freese said. "Hes obviously not throwing as hard as he used to, but hes a gamer and he always has been. He made his pitches against a good offence. When guys get on, you have to shut the door. And he did." Weaver, who became a 20-game winner for the first time last year before a broken bone in his non-pitching arm sidelined him for more than six weeks this season, ended a streak of five winless starts that began after his 3-1 victory against the Dodgers on May 29 -- his first game back from the injury. "Coming back was kind of like spring training for me all over again, as far as building the pitch count and getting the arm strength back," said the eight-year veteran, whose 104th big league victory tied his brother Jeffs total. "I think the balls coming out a lot better than it had been, and thats just a sign of the arm strength coming back and getting over that hump finally of 100 pitches, which was nice. I feel strong again, and hopefully I can maintain this through the rest of the season." The Cardinals loaded the bases in the eighth against Kevin Jepsen. Scott Downs came in and struck out rookie Matt Adams before finishing a spectacular 3-6-1 double play, after Trumbo made a slick play in the hole on a hard-hit grounder by Freese. "Marks made some really good plays for us," manager Mike Scioscia said. "But the situation being what it was, I mean, the ball was a rocket to his backhand. And to be able to turn a double play on that was impressive." Lance Lynn (10-3) gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings, striking out eight. The 26-year-old right-hander, coming off a 4-3 loss last Wednesday at Houston, has dropped back-to-back outings for the first time in 1 1/2 big league seasons spanning 48 starts. Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday was a late scratch because of tightness in his neck, hampering a lineup that had averaged a league-best 7.04 runs of support for Lynn in his other 16 starts this season. Molina was 2 for 4, raising his NL-leading average to .347. "It was good to see Yaddy and good to see him having the year that hes having," Pujols said. "I would love for him to win the batting title. Hes like my little brother, and Id do anything for him. I dont think Ive ever seen anybody prepare himself for a game like he does." The Angels sent 10 batters to the plate in the second. Lynn gave up singles to six of his first seven hitters, including run-scoring hits by Trumbo, Alberto Callaspo, Erick Aybar and Shuck. Aybar scored when second baseman Matt Carpenter misplayed Mike Trouts grounder up the middle for an error with a chance to force Shuck. Lynn ended the inning by striking out Pujols and Josh Hamilton. The Cardinals got on the board in the fourth. Allen Craig reached on an infield single, was held up at third on a double by Adams and scored on a groundout by Freese. NOTES: A ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Stan Musials grandson, Brian Schwarze, with Pujols as his catcher. Musial, who died on Jan. 19 at age 92, was honoured with a video tribute following the first inning. "Stan was my buddy," Pujols said. "I wish I would have had more opportunities to talk to him. When he walked into the clubhouse, it was like a light that was so bright. It was amazing. Everybody would stop what they were doing." ... Shortly after Pujols joined the Angels, he took offence to promotional billboards put up throughout Southern California that heralded him as "El Hombre" -- or "The Man." Pujols requested they be taken down, saying that only Musial -- whose moniker was "Stan The Man" -- should ever be referred to in that manner. ... The Angels wore circular patches with Musials name and No. 6 on the front of their jerseys, which they will do throughout this series. The idea for the unique tribute came during spring training. "Its out of the respect that everyone in baseball has for Stan Musial and his legacy, and obviously the connection with Albert," Scioscia said. "We wanted to honour a great person and a great ballplayer in a very classy way, and were proud to wear them." Custom NCAA Jerseys . Woods said Friday that his charity event, which attracts a world-class field even without being part of any tour, will move in December 2014 to Isleworth, the course where he honed his professional game from 1996 until moving away to south Florida two years ago. Cheap Football NCAA Jerseys . The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/. A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . The stakes were higher, the competition more fierce and the atmosphere was that of a playoff game - something the young, upstart Raptors have five weeks to better prepare themselves for or the result will be eerily similar. Replica NCAA Jerseys .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday.The Netherlands can reach its second consecutive World Cup final with a victory over Argentina on Wednesday at the Area de Sao Paulo. Listen to the game live on TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TSN 1260 and TEAM 1410 at 4pm et/1pm pt. The Dutch reached the World Cup final in South Africa in 2010 after topping Uruguay, 3-2, but faced Spain in the final and fell 1-0. Louis van Gaals side will surely draw motivation for Wednesdays clash from that defeat, something not lost on midfielder Wesley Sneijder. "Sometimes you have to suffer to obtain success," he said. "The final in 2010 was very painful but the disappointment drives you on. "We feel we have more experience, a strong squad, some great players and now we know it is so close for us again. We have come through so much together and grown with the tournament. Now it gets even harder." The Dutch should be riding high on confidence after knocking off the tournaments Cinderella squad on Saturday, topping Costa Rica 4-3 on penalty kicks after the sides played to a scoreless draw in extra time. The Dutch controlled much of the match but only created their first real scoring opportunity in the 21st minute when Robin van Persie latched on to Memphis Depays through ball and fired a left-footed shot on target, but Keylor Navas was able to parry the attempt to the top of the penalty area. The clearance only went as far as Sneijder, who lashed the rebound back toward goal, but Navas was equal to the task once again. Navas denied Sneijder again in the 39th minute when the Galatasaray midfielder uncorked a brilliant free kick from distance that looked destined for the upper corner, but the Levante keeper pushed the shot aside to send the two sides into halftime scoreless. The Dutch continued to find scoring chances in extra time as Costa Rica looked absolutely exhausted. Sneijder hit the woodwork for a second time when he took a layoff from Jeremain Lens in the 119th minute and curled a superb effort toward goal with his favorite right foot, and a relieved Navas could only help but watch the strike come back into play off the crossbar. Heading into the penalty shootout, Van Gaal used his final substitution to replace goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with Newcastle United keeper Tim Krul and the move was a masterstroke as Krul stopped two Costa Rica penalties to hand his side the victory. "In terms of team spirit and togetherness, this is the best group Ive worked withh.dddddddddddd I thought we had more quality than Costa Rica and deserved to win. I dont know how much ball possession we had, how many times we hit the woodwork and how many chances we had -- in the end its all about scoring," Van Gaal said. "We have practiced pens, I believe when youre used to a certain way of shooting youll be more comfortable taking that shot. We told Tim Krul that he would be the best goalkeeper for the penalties as hes bigger; we didnt tell Cillessen, as we didnt want to ruin his preparation and concentration. There is no question about who will start next game, it will be Cillessen. But we felt Krul was the better choice here -- and he proved that. He guessed the correct way for every penalty." Argentina heads into its first semifinal since 1990 hoping to earn a chance to play for its third Jules Rimet trophy, having already advanced further than their 2010 campaign when the side was thumped, 4-0, by Germany in the quarterfinals. Argentina also knocked off a potential Cinderella in the quarterfinals after earning a 1-0 victory over Belgium courtesy of a goal from Gonzalo Higuain at the Estadio Nacional. Through this World Cup, Argentinas performances have left plenty to be desired, but theyve gotten the necessary results and Wednesday represents an opportunity to put in a quality performance against a very good opponent. The goal came after just eight minutes as Angel Di Maria attempted to deliver a pass into the penalty area that was deflected by a Belgium defender. The ball fell kindly to the feet of Higuain and he hammered a first-time shot perfectly inside the left post. "Ever since the first game Ive been saying that I wasnt worried, that my first goal would come, and fortunately it came at a crucial time," Higuain said. "Its been a long time since Argentina reached the semifinals and Im happy its this group of players that managed it, because they deserve it. Now we want to keep going and reach the final." Alejandro Sabellas team will have a significant void to fill on Wednesday as Di Maria was forced off the pitch in the 33rd minute with a thigh injury 33rd minute, was replaced by Enzo Perez, and is unavailable for Wednesday. Despite the injury, Sabellas team will hope for more than just a semifinal appearance. "Weve achieved our minimum objective, which was to reach the last four, but we want more. Thats what weve come for," Sabella said. ' ' '