ST. LOUIS — Mark Mulder's first start in more than a year had the profile of a pitcher reining in his repertoire during spring training.

Too bad the St. Louis Cardinals need him to win now. And Mulder was no savior, getting roughed up by Pittsburgh in an 8-2 Pirates victory Wednesday night.

"Not what I was hoping for," Mulder said.

After overseeing the left-hander's latest bullpen session and a crisp pregame warmup, pitching coach Dave Duncan allowed himself to get excited. He said Mulder was hurt a bit by seeing-eye hits and, despite the bottom line, gave him a positive review.

"I probably expected more than I should have," Duncan said. "He's discouraged because he knows what our situation is and he didn't do anything to help us.

"But he should not be discouraged. I expect he'll be better next time."

The left-hander who won 16 games in 2005 but was 6-7 with a 7.14 ERA in an injury-plagued 2006 lasted four innings and gave up six runs on eight hits. The Cardinals had hoped he'd fortify the rotation in the final month, but instead dropped two games behind the first-place Cubs in the NL Central and also failed in a chance to go two games above .500 for the first time all season.

Mulder needed only nine pitches to get out of the first inning before running into trouble.

Ronny Paulino was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, Jack Wilson went 3-for-4 with a three-run double and Adam LaRoche was 2-for-4 with a homer for the Pirates, who won for only the second time in eight games. Tony Armas (3-5) worked six innings and limited St. Louis to two runs and five hits.

Entering the game, the Pirates were tied for the major league lead in runs since Aug. 1. Manager Jim Tracy said his offense is clicking against most pitchers.

"They're not getting themselves out, they're not missing balls over the middle of the plate," Tracy said. "That's how you become a good offensive club."

Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, his seventh in 75 at-bats. It gave him 22 RBI in 22 games since the former pitcher returned to the major leagues as an outfielder on Aug. 9.

Mulder (0-1) made his last 2006 start on Aug. 29 and underwent rotator cuff surgery in September, missing the Cardinals' improbable World Series run. He had good success in four rehab starts despite fluctuating velocity that prompted him to ask that the radar gun be turned off for his final tuneup at Triple-A Memphis.

Pitch speeds were displayed on the Busch Stadium scoreboard for the first two hitters, then not again. Of Mulder's 59 pitches, 39 were strikes, and he struggled to find the plate mainly at the start of the fourth when he opened with six straight balls.

Wilson was impressed, although he thought Mulder's two-seam fastball didn't have as much zip as it used to when he was with Oakland. Scouting reports had Mulder topping out at 86-87 mph, but the Pirates had him as fast as 92 mph on Wednesday.

"His velocity was real nice," Wilson said. "Once that two-seamer comes back, which I'm sure it will, he'll be back to his old self."