--LHP Mark Mulder, making his second start on the medical rehabilitation program as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery, pitched six scoreless innings for Class AA Springfield against Tulsa. In throwing 76 pitches, Mulder walked three, allowed three hits and fanned one. But manager Tony La Russa is not exactly keeping the porch light on for Mulder just yet.
"He's got a long way to go," La Russa said. --Fans are eager to see what will happen when Mulder and RHPs Matt Clement and Chris Carpenter return. But La Russa can wait.
"When somebody gets close, that's when you really think about it," he said. "Otherwise, you're just wasting your time. Nobody knows what the circumstances are going to be when any of those guys come back. Things change daily here.
"Now, if you've got nothing else to think about and you want to waste your time, then you can do it. If fans want to have fun, they can do that."
--When C Yadier Molina was called out on strikes on a ball he thought was outside in the sixth inning, it marked only his second strikeout in 61 plate appearances. Molina had been leading the league in that ratio.
"I didn't know that," said Molina. "But I don't look at it. I'm just trying to put the ball in play. I don't think about strikeouts."
--Using RHP Adam Wainwright's bat, Cardinals LHP Ron Villone, hitting for the first time in at least three years, was called out on strikes in the eighth inning. But Villone has had some history as a batsman. He has had 22 hits (and 50 strikeouts) in 170 at-bats, including a homer off Cincinnati's Danny Graves in 2003.
--3B Troy Glaus, whose batting average had dipped to .220, doubled twice, drove in a run and drew a walk.
NUMBERS GAME: 16 -- Number of hitting streaks of 10 games or longer in 1B Albert Pujols' career.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "No one is as hot as Ryan (Ludwick), but there's no one really struggling." -- Manager Tony La Russa on why the .400-hitting outfielder was not playing regularly.
