Young Not Happy With Young Pitcher

Cub rookie starter Kerry Wood was impressive in his debut at Wrigley Field on Saturday, but Eric Young isn’t among his fans.

The Dodger second baseman and Wood shouted at each other after a pitch from Wood sailed over Young’s head in the third inning of the Cubs’ 8-1 victory. Home plate umpire Larry Vanover stepped in front of Young to prevent him from confronting Wood, who walked toward Young.

“He wasn’t close to anyone else, and then that ball goes flying over my head,” said Young, who went two for four. “I don’t know why he did that, but I don’t appreciate that and I let him know that.”

Before leading off the third, Young said he requested that Vanover check the ball because Wood had thrown it in the dirt in front of the plate during his warmup tosses that inning. Wood’s first pitch to Young went over his head, which ignited the argument.

Wood is listed at 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, and Young is 5-9, 170.

“I don’t care how big he is, I’m not backing down against anyone,” he said. “I asked to have the ball checked like I always do in that situation. I don’t know if that’s the way he learned to do things in the minors, but I’m not accepting that.”

Wood, whose pitches have been clocked in the high 90s, said he didn’t intentionally throw at Young.

“It was an 0-and-0 pitch, I wasn’t trying to throw it up there at him,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t intentional, and I really don’t know why he would think it was.

“I’ve heard he’s a great guy, but I’m not going to back down to anyone either just because I’m a rookie. It’s over, and I’m not going to think about this anymore.”

The Dodgers failed to score against Wood (1-1), who gave up four hits and struck out seven with three walks in five innings.

*

First baseman Eric Karros will begin a rehabilitation assignment at Class-A San Bernardino today.

Karros has been sidelined since March 24 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage damage in his left knee.

He has made significant progress while working with team physical therapist Pat Screnar during his rehabilitation, team officials said. He is expected to play for San Bernardino today at 2 p.m. against Rancho Cucamonga.

“It will be good to get him going again,” Manager Bill Russell said. “We just have to get him out there and see how it goes.”

*

Darren Dreifort pitched 5 1/3 strong innings in relief against the Cubs, but he was disappointed with his performance.

He came in with the Dodgers trailing, 6-0, with two out in the first inning and gave up a run-scoring single to Mickey Morandini. The Cubs scored their final run on third baseman Todd Zeile’s fielding error.

The runs were charged to starter Hideo Nomo, but Dreifort blamed himself for his contribution to the Dodgers’ bad situation.

“I didn’t do my job when I came in there,” said Dreifort, who gave up only one more hit. “I’ve got to come in there with two outs and get that guy out. If I do that, it’s only 6-0 instead of 8-0.”

*

In a tribute to the late Harry Caray, Vin Scully will conduct the seventh-inning stretch today at Wrigley Field.

Will Scully lead the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”?

“It depends on the mood I’m in,” the Hall of Fame announcer said.

DODGERS’ ISMAEL VALDES (1-2, 5.09 ERA)

vs.

CUBS’ JEREMI GONZALEZ (0-2, 11.70 ERA)

Wrigley Field, 11:15 a.m. PDT

TV--Channel 5.

Radio--AM 1150, KWKW (1330)

* Update--The Dodgers look to Valdes for a strong performance after Hideo Nomo lasted only two-thirds of an inning in their 8-1 loss to the Cubs on Saturday. Valdes took the loss in the Colorado Rockies’ 6-3 victory on Tuesday, giving up five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. The game was delayed twice by rain for 1 hour 35 minutes, and the delays affected Valdes. He gave up only one run on five hits through the fifth. “It’s never easy [when games are delayed],” Valdes said. “I thought I had my rhythm, I was making good pitches, but then you have to stop and start. You never want to go through that.” Rain is forecast today.