Wood Shows Arizona He Has All-Star Stuff

The only one not disappointed Kerry Wood didn’t make the All-Star team was Kerry Wood.

The rookie pitcher struck out 13 in eight innings Wednesday to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Wood (8-3), backed by fans who hung “K’s” around Wrigley Field for each strikeout, improved to 6-0 in eight starts at home. He gave up a one-out single in the third, a leadoff single in the fourth and a leadoff triple in the seventh.

“I wasn’t expecting to make it,” Wood said of the All-Star team. “Maybe next year.”

Wood, who turned 21 on June 16, now has 139 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings. Despite tying a record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game this season, Wood was not among the reserves named Wednesday by Florida Marlin Manager Jim Leyland. He said he’ll spend one of the off days taking part in a clinic at Wrigley Field.

“I thought he would make it for one reason and that is I thought the league would say, ‘We want this kid in there,’ ” Cub Manager Jim Riggleman said. “I applaud the league for not getting involved and telling Jim [Leyland] who he should take.”

Sammy Sosa, who hit a record 20 home runs in June and made his second All-Star team as a reserve, began July with a pair of RBI doubles for the Cubs.

Grace also drove in two runs and Morandini had three hits and scored three runs for Chicago.