Astros' starter Roy Oswalt is close to returning after having a pair of starts pushed back with a strained left hip muscle, according to The Houston Chronicle. Oswalt revealed on Monday that his sciatic nerve is inflamed because of a worn disk in his back. "I had this one time before, and you guys (the media) didn't know about it," said Oswalt. "Sometimes you get a shot and it lasts a year, and sometimes it lasts three or four months, and sometimes it lasts three years. You don't really know."