A Triple Crown winner won’t. Maybe a little luck, but far from a miracle. Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, and Carlos Gonzalez all have realistic chances to make history.

Andrew Kahn of The Sports Journalists recently asked me to give my thoughts on the race, specifically on Pujols.

Kahn put together an in-depth piece with historical background, insights from other writers, and the key players in the race. It’s a great read that hits every key angle of the Triple Crown.

Find out who the X-Factor in the race is in the complete story.

Andrew Kahn has written for various publications such as FoxSports.com, Basketball Times Online and ICGaels.com. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and does a great job with his site, which covers various stories in national sports. Follow him on Twitter @JournalistSport.

Albert Pujols watches as the 400th home run of his career soars into the seats. (Source: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Albert Pujols hit the 400th home run of his brilliant career Thursday against the Washington Nationals. Pujols drilled an 0-1 pitch from Jordan Zimmermann into the right-center sits in the fourth inning to reach the milestone.

He became the 47th player in major league history and the second Cardinals slugger to reach No. 400. Stan Musial who hit 475 home runs in his Hall of Fame career is the other. Pujols is the fifth-fastest to 400 homers in history and has a good shot at the all-time record.

The home run, his league-leading 34th this year, continues his hot August which has put him in the middle of a race for the Triple Crown. He leads the National League in home runs and RBI and is third in batting average. It was his 11th homer in his last 22 games.

Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds is also in the hunt for the Triple Crown. He leads the league in batting with a .326 average and has 31 homers and 90 RBI. The race for the crown and the division title will likely decide the MVP award too.

The feat adds to Pujols’ list of achievements. Earlier this month, he hit his 30th home run of the season for the 10th consecutive year — the only player to do so in history. He is also in position to hit .300 and drive in 100 runs as he has every year of his career.

Pujols is writing history with every at bat. When he’s done, he will be among the greatest hitters of all-time.

Albert Pujols hits one of his four home runs in the month of August as the Cardinals avoid being swept by the Astros. (Source: Jeff Roberson/AP)

Over the last four seasons, Albert Pujols has never hit less than .307 during the month of August. This includes an incredible batting average of .398 in 2008. Not to mention, he has accumulated a total of 28 home runs and 75 RBI’s during that span.

This August is proving to be no different for Albert, who is hitting .481 with four homers, ten RBI’s, and eight runs scored in just six games. He has homered in five of his last seven games and since July 29^th, his batting average has gone from .295 to .311, quite a turnaround in such a short period of time. I think it’s more than safe to say that Pujols is sizzling hot right now. The month is still young, but this could be a sign of more great things to come.

After an MVP season last year, Pujols didn’t exactly fly out of the gates and put up the numbers that we are accustomed to seeing from him. He hit under .300 in three of the first four months of the year and many wondered what was going on. Albert himself even admitted that he obviously spoiled the fans after last year’s near Triple Crown win. It’s not every year that a guy hits 47 homers, drives in 135 runs, and hits for an average of .327. With that being said, Pujols’ numbers on a bad year are still better than many players’ numbers on a great year.

Just when everyone was starting to accept the fact that this year in baseball is the year of the pitcher and Albert might not put up huge numbers, here we go again. Pujols leads the Redbirds in all major batting categories and leads the National League with 82 RBIs. He also ranks second in the NL in home runs, walks, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. As far as I’m concerned, Joey Votto is the only player more qualified to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award this year. [...]

Pujols will need to continue this hot streak tonight as the Cards open up a crucial three game series in Cincinnati against Votto and the first place Reds. A sweep would give St. Louis a one game lead in the division and leave them in great shape moving forward. After that, the Cardinals will face the Reds just three more times during the regular season in a home series in early September.

The remainder of August is setting up nicely for Pujols to continue having tremendous offensive success. The Redbirds play a bunch of teams who are no longer in contention for a playoff spot, including the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, Nationals, and Astros. Albert and the team as a whole will look to take advantage of this relatively easy schedule down the stretch.

All great players come through and deliver when their team needs them the most, and right now, the Cardinals need Albert Pujols to lead the way. The main factor in riding out a hot streak for as long as possible is taking things one game at a time and not getting too far ahead of yourself. If he is able to do this, Pujols could produce unheard of numbers for the final two months of the season.

Cardinals fans are surely in for a wild finish in a tightly contested N.L. Central as pressure mounts between the Reds and Cards. It’s time for everyone to step up and get the job done. Only time will tell who will come out on top, but whatever happens, Albert Pujols is bound to be right in the middle of all the action.