Mulder scratched from rehab start due to back stiffness

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder was scratched from a scheduled injury rehabilitation start on Monday night due to back stiffness.

Mulder, recovering from a pair of operations on his left shoulder, had been set for perhaps a final tuneup with Triple-A Memphis before joining the roster this weekend. His status was day to day, the team said in a release.

This is Mulder’s second rehab stint after the first one was cut short when he had persistent difficulty reaching his accustomed arm slot. In his last two starts he has thrown from more of a sidearm angle. One of the games was a five-inning scoreless outing for Double-A Springfield, but in his last outing he allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in 3 2-3 innings for Memphis.