An ideal Mulder outing consists of one weak ground ball after another... 6-3, 4-3, 5-3, and 6-3 again. He rarely throws it right by someone, rarely screws a hitter into the ground. When the left-hander is going well, he's the antithesis of drama, not only in how he carries himself, but in how the game unfolds.

Mulder is vanilla, and he's fine with that. He showed it on Wednesday, pitching seven fine innings for the Cardinals in a 4-2 win over the Brewers.

Mulder (11-5) induced 11 ground-ball outs and kept Milwaukee from ever sustaining a rally. He and his teammates finished off the visiting Brew Crew in a mere two hours, 22 minutes, and while it was certainly well-played, it wasn't a game that will necessarily stand out as unforgettable.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Mulder said. "That's the way I like to be. It's kind of weird. It was so hot out there, I was just trying to keep everything real slow, nonchalant, trying not to get too involved in it or overwork myself.

"I was just trying to throw sinkers and splits and changes, cut the ball in here and there, throw a couple good curveballs. Just trying to mix it up and keep it real boring."

The excitement was provided by a couple of St. Louis hitters. John Rodriguez hit his first career home run, and followed it by accepting his first curtain call, in the first inning. Albert Pujols hit a two-run shot, his third in as many games, in the third.

The Cardinals improved to 5-1 since the All-Star break and 12-4 in July. They stretched their lead over the second-place Cubs and Astros to 13 games in the National League Central, two days in advance of a Chicago visit to Busch Stadium.

It wasn't easy for Mulder, who frequently had to work out of trouble. But it was always smooth.

Twice he retired the Brewers' Nos. 3-4 hitters, Lyle Overbay and Carlos Lee, in order with a runner in scoring position. Two other times he worked out of one-out, two-on situations without permitting a run.

"I had a bunch of people on base," Mulder said. "It was kind of a battle at times, but I made the pitches when I had to and got out of those jams. Especially with two outs -- I had a bunch of guys in scoring position with two outs."

Immediately after Mulder escaped his first pickle, a one-out Rickie Weeks double in the first, he was handed a lead. Facing Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets, Rodriguez parked a 1-2 pitch to right-center field for career home run No. 1. Since a Monday recall from the Minors, Rodriguez has three starts and has at least one base hit each time.

"I'm calm," Rodriguez said. "But it's all about going out there with confidence, knowing that you can play this game with everyone else. And that's what my mentality is: Just go out there, don't feel the pressure, don't panic. Just go out there, it's a baseball game -- have fun."

Mulder eluded danger again in the second and third, and in the bottom of the third his cushion grew larger. David Eckstein slapped a one-out single, and after Rodriguez struck out, Pujols pounded his 26th long ball of the season. The slugger has four homers in 23 at-bats since the All-Star break, providing much-needed offense for a team dealing with a raft of injuries.

"It's not about me, man," said Pujols. "It's about what I can do to help my team out to win. That's what it's all about."

The St. Louis bullpen endured a bit of a bump in the eighth when Bill Hall's sacrifice fly cut the lead to one run, but a Jim Edmonds RBI single made it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning. Jason Isringhausen finished it off for his 27th save. Isringhausen now ranks third all-time on the Cards' career save list with 128.