ST. LOUIS - It's a pitcher's worst nightmare - a line drive right back at him.
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Mark Mulder survived a scare in Game 2 of the division series against the San Diego Padres when Joe Randa lined a second-inning pitch that hit him on his left biceps.
Mulder shook off the injury to carry a shutout into the seventh inning of the Cardinals' 6-2 victory. The arm was sore enough for a few days that the Cardinals were worried, but he has fully recovered and will start Game 2 of the NL championship series on Thursday against the Houston Astros.
Mulder threw a bullpen session Tuesday and reported no day-after problems.
"I felt pretty good yesterday, not great, but today is probably the first day where I have absolutely no discomfort, no tightness, no nothing, besides just the general soreness in the spot that I got hit," Mulder said. "But that has nothing to do with anything when I throw a baseball."
Mulder's opponent in Game 2, Roy Oswalt, compared the comebacker to a hitter getting hit by a pitch, "except you don't see it until it's hit you. It's coming back a lot faster than you throw it."
Of more concern to manager Tony La Russa on the injury front was the condition of right fielder Larry Walker, who had a sore right knee after getting hit by a pitch and also took a spill over a rail chasing a foul ball in Game 3 against the Padres. La Russa said he'd consider removing Walker in the late innings, replacing him with So Taguchi.
"He is sore and will probably get sore as the game goes along," La Russa said. "So we will pay attention to it as we go along."
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THE QUIET MAN: Oswalt didn't blink, smirk or squirm when the first question asked of him during a news conference concerned Roger Clemens.
Despite winning 20 games each of the past two seasons, the 28-year-old right-hander has become accustomed to being overshadowed by Houston teammates Clemens and Andy Pettitte. According to his manager, that's the way he likes it.
"Roy himself is not a self-promoter," Phil Garner said. "He's very laid back, as you all know, and that's not a show he puts on. That's the way he is. He's very comfortable being in the back room.
"He just likes going out and pitching, doing his job and saying, 'thank you very much,' and going home."
Asked to compare Oswalt to other power pitchers, Garner mentioned former Yankees left-hander Ron Guidry.
"Roy is on the slight side and he's lean, but very strong, very strong, and a very good athlete," Garner said.
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NO LEAD CHANGE: The Cardinals have played two straight postseason series in which the lead did not change hands even once.
In being swept in four games by the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 World Series, the Cardinals fell behind 7-2 early in Game 1, rallied twice to tie it, and the game was even at 9 before the Red Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
St. Louis would never be even again. In the three remaining games, Boston scored in the first inning and never looked back.
It was the Cardinals who never trailed in a three-game division series sweep of the San Diego Padres.
In Game 1, St. Louis went ahead 8-0 before winning 8-5. In Game 2, it was a 6-0 St. Louis lead en route to a 6-2 victory. And in Game 3, the Cardinals led 7-0 and won 7-4.