LEADING OFF

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:

WHERE IT BEGAN: Albert Pujols returns to St. Louis for a game for the first time since leaving the Cardinals to sign a $240 million contract with the Angels before the 2012 season. The slugger won three NL MVP awards and made nine All-Star teams with the Cardinals, leading them to World Series championships in 2006 and 2011. Pujols, sixth on the career list with 645 home runs, batted .328 with 455 doubles, 445 homers and 1,329 RBIs in 1,705 games for St. Louis. He is scheduled to meet the media at Busch Stadium before the opener of an interleague series.

JUDGE-MENT DAY: Aaron Judge is all set to swing back into action for the first-place New York Yankees. The slugger is expected to be reinstated from the injured list to play against Houston, his first game since straining his left oblique April 20. “I’m not going to try to baby it or go at 80%. We’re in the major leagues,” Judge said Thursday at Yankee Stadium. “We’re ready to go. That’s not something I’m worried about happening again.”

BRAVE NEW WORLD: Dallas Keuchel makes his season debut in his initial start for first-place Atlanta at Washington. After a long wait in free agency, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner signed a one-year deal this month that pays him $13 million. The twotime All-Star went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in 34 starts last season for Houston. Stephen Strasburg (7-4, 3.75 ERA) takes the ball for the Nationals, who are coming off a threegame sweep of Philadelphia in a rain-shortened series. They’ve used a 17-7 surge to get within two games of .500 (36-38) for the first time since April 28.