Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — The lurching Mike Hampton comeback train is back on the tracks.

The oft-injured veteran left-hander had no problems with his groin or anything else during a four-inning simulated game against Braves hitters Wednesday.

"I'm looking forward to pitching and enjoying my next start," said Hampton, who strained his right groin Friday in the second inning of his second spring start. "I didn't have any tweaks [Wednesday], nothing going on."

Barring any setbacks, Hampton is expected to make his next scheduled start Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla. Buddy Carlyle started in his place in Wednesday night's game against Cleveland.

Hampton, 35, is attempting a comeback after missing 2-1/2 seasons recovering from two elbow surgeries 16 months apart.

In two Grapefruit League starts, he has been charged with three hits and one unearned run in 31/3 innings, with one walk and two strikeouts.

He threw 59 pitches Wednesday on a back field at Disney's Wide World of Sports, recording one strikeout and allowing two hits against Braves hitters Javy Lopez, Scott Thorman, Brayan Pena and Gregor Blanco.

One good sign of the velocity and movement on his pitches was the pair of broken bats that lay on the field after his first two simulated innings. Thorman and Pena had their bats broken.

Hampton also hit Thorman with a pitch on the shoulder, and the big Canadian first baseman threw his bat down in mock anger.

Knucksie on the mound

The Braves had a distinguished batting-practice pitcher Wednesday: Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.

The knuckleballer has suited up and thrown on the side for fun before games in recent days, but not until Wednesday did he face hitters. Niekro was standing next to the batting cage when he got the good news.

"Knucksie, you've got the fourth [hitting] group out there," hitting coach Terry Pendleton said.

"I was hoping somebody would say that," said Niekro, who will turn 69 on April 1.