Wood Will Not Face Pirates

Kerry Wood, the Chicago Cub rookie pitching star, has been scratched from his scheduled start Sunday after again experiencing pain in his right elbow.

Cub Manager Jim Riggleman decided to pull Wood from the start when the right-hander reported pain before he was to throw on the sidelines Friday.

Left-hander Terry Mulholland (4-5) will start in place of Wood (13-6) against Pittsburgh. Wood expects to return to the rotation after that.

“I’m just missing a start,” Wood said. “It’s getting late in the season and we figured the time to do it was now.”

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Right-hander Alan Benes of the St. Louis Cardinals, who has missed the entire season after undergoing rotator cuff surgery, has underwent arthroscopic surgery. . . . The Cardinals, meanwhile, took rookie right-hander Mike Busby off the 15-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Juan Munoz to Memphis of the Pacific Coast League. Busby, the former L.A. City Player of the year at Banning High, suffered a medial elbow strain against Colorado on May 25th. Before the injury, he was 5-1 with a 4.97 earned-run average in 18 games.

Florida Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga has reduced his $165 million asking price for the franchise and hopes to sell the team to commodities trader John Henry. . . . Rookie right-hander Matt Mantei, who had been one of the Marlins’ bright spots this season before spraining a right ankle on Aug. 18, came off the the 15-day disabled list.

A San Diego Superior Court judge said the city’s ballot proposal for a downtown baseball stadium isn’t false or misleading and approved it for the November election. Judge Charles Hayes ruled that Proposition C is in compliance with the Elections Code, clearing the way for its appearance on the Nov. 3 ballot.