updated 4:45 p.m. ET March 2, 2006

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Roger Clemens was back on the mound at Houston Astros camp Thursday, striking out four of the 10 minor leaguers he faced and catching a hard line drive.

With Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan watching, Clemens threw 38 pitches — 24 for strikes — in his second live tuneup for the World Baseball Classic. The Rocket was set to leave later Thursday to join the U.S. team in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"The ball was coming out of my hand nice,'' Clemens said. "It's going to make my mind a little more at ease getting ready to head out on this trip.''

Clemens, a free agent, got special permission from the Astros and Major League Baseball to work with the minor leaguers in Kissimmee. The NL champions did not offer him salary arbitration, and Clemens cannot re-sign with his hometown team until May 1. Boston, the New York Yankees and Texas have shown interest in signing him before that.

After four days in Florida, Clemens is no closer to committing to a 23rd major league season. He said his performance in the WBC will not influence his choice.

"I'm going to enjoy this, the next two weeks,'' Clemens said. "Good or bad, it won't factor into my decision.''

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The first batter Clemens faced on Thursday, infielder Ben Zobrist, smacked a sharp grounder past the pitcher's son, Koby, at third base. The Rocket then struck out infielder Brooks Conrad and outfielders Hunter Pence and Eli Iorg.

The 43-year-old Clemens led the major leagues with a career-best 1.87 ERA last season, but was hampered late in the year with back and hamstring problems. He limped off the mound after only two innings in the World Series opener against the Chicago White Sox.

He said Thursday he felt fine and was focusing on his control.

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"Location was a lot better than what I expected and the breaking ball is ahead of schedule,'' Clemens said.

In Clemens' second "inning,'' infielder Neil Sellers cracked a line drive up the middle and the pitcher snagged it with a quick move to his left.

Clemens said he's more concerned with the condition of his legs than his arm. Between innings of his first live outing on Monday, he stretched with longtime strength coach Brian McNamee.

"For me, I'm noticing about the 30-hour mark is when the soreness sets in,'' Clemens said. "I was able to work a lot of that out and come back today.''

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Ryan now works as a special assistant to Astros general manager Tim Purpura. Clemens and Ryan - with 10,216 strikeouts between them - shook hands before Clemens took the mound on Thursday. Ryan was impressed by Clemens' workout.

"The thing about Roger is he has this real cunning ability to throw the ball exactly where he wants to,'' said Ryan, baseball's career strikeout leader with 5,714. "He showed that today and still has good velocity. He looks good to me.''

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