Mark Mulder Rusty in Return to Mound

Mark Mulder's season debut was best summed up in his own words,

"Not what I was hoping for."

Following a 49-minute rain delay, the St. Louis Cardinals lefty was roughed up by the Pittsburgh Pirates for an 8-2 loss Wednesday night.

After an injury-plagued 2006 season in which he went 6-7 with a 7.14 ERA before undergoing rotator cuff surgery, Mulder lasted just four innings in his first game back. He kicked off the game with a nine-pitch first inning before running into trouble, serving up six runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Bucs backstop Ronny Paulino was 2-for-4 with a base hit and a three-run jack for his 8th hit in his last 11 at-bats.


Jack Wilson went 3-for-4 with a three-run double and Adam LaRoche was 2-for-4 with a solo shot for the Pirates, who won for just the second time in eight games.

Tony Armas pitched six innings for two runs and five hits with two walks and 5 strikeouts for the Pirates.

Rick Ankiel (unfortunately still sporting the flavor-saver) hit a two-run dinger in the third to put the Cards on the board for his seventh home run in 77 at-bats.

That longball marked Ankiel's 22nd RBI in 22 games since the former pitcher made his triumphant return to the big leagues as an outfielder on Aug. 9th took HGH to heal his suckiness, and is now batting .338. Awesome.

The Red Birds sit just 2 games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs and a half-game behind the Milwaukee Brewers with a 6.5-game distance between them and the NL Wild Card.

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]