NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cards Tip Cubs, Ruin Dickson’s Debut

Former Grossmont High pitcher Lance Dickson said he was a little nervous about his major league debut Thursday. Understandable, since a little over two months ago, Dickson, a 20-year-old left-hander, was a student at Arizona.

Dickson said he didn’t pitch that well in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Not entirely so, Cubs Manager Don Zimmer said.

“It was a decent outing,” Zimmer said. “We’re talking about a kid who was pitching in college two months ago.”

In his debut after an accelerated two-month climb through the minors, Dickson (0-1) yielded eight hits and three runs over six innings, striking out three and walking one. He got off to an interesting start, yielding a leadoff single to Rex Hudler, then picking Hudler off first and making the putout himself in a rundown.

“I wasn’t happy,” Dickson said. “I made some bad pitches. I didn’t make key pitches in key spots.”

The Cubs’ No. 1 draft choice out of Arizona, where he led the NCAA in strikeouts in with 141 in 119 2/3 innings, Dickson was sent to Class A Geneva, N.Y., then promoted to Class A Peoria, Ill., then to double-A Charlotte, N.C.

During those brief stays, Dickson was a combined 7-3 with a 0.94 earned run average and 111 strikeouts and 18 walks in 69 1/3 innings.

He was called up Tuesday for pitcher Shawn Boskie, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The Cubs, who lost for the first time in six games and just the sixth in 23, didn’t offer Dickson much offensive support. The Cardinals’ Kent Hill, who was re-called from triple-A Louisville July 26, did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and had a two-hit shutout working until Jerome Walton’s leadoff home run in the ninth. It was Walton’s first homer since Aug. 8, 1989.