PITTSBURGH — Cardinals lefthander Mark Mulder, searching for the answers that may mean the future of his career, had an exam with Cardinals medical officials Friday, and he will be sent for a second opinion Monday, team officials said.

Mulder got 16 pitches into his return as a starter before his twice repaired shoulder gave way on him and he had to leave Wednesday’s game before collecting a second out in the first inning. The lefthander had a magnetic resonance imaging scan taken of the joint Friday afternoon, and the Cardinals do not believe they will know what the results of that MRI are until Monday, at the earliest.

General manager John Mozeliak said there is “some urgency to getting an answer … so that we know what we can to address it.”

They will be looking for any structural reason his shoulder gave way, dropping his arm out of slot and refusing to allow him the shoulder rotation needed to pitch. Mulder has previously said he would be reluctant to have a third surgery on the shoulder.

“Concerned,” manager Tony La Russa said describing the mood of Mulder’s teammates. “We’ll get an answer soon enough, so might as well wait.”

Since 2006, Mulder has needed two shoulder surgeries to repair a problematic rotator cuff. He returned from the first surgery last September, but was only able to make three starts before requiring another surgery. Mulder went through two rehab assignments this season — the first one halted by stiffness in his shoulder and the second one resulted in a new arm slot and major-league return first as a reliever.

Here is The Post-Dispatch’s earlier article on Mulder, containing additional information on the background of his surgeries and attempts to return.

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