Wood’s Return a Success

New elbow, same Kerry Wood. Or close enough, anyway.

Pitching in a major league game for the first time in almost 19 months, Wood gave up only one run--a homer--and three hits in six innings Tuesday night as the Chicago Cubs routed the Houston Astros, 11-1.

“It felt great to get back out there. A little butterflies in the first inning, but I was able to settle down,” Wood said. “We’ve still got a little work to do, but I’m very pleased with the way I threw tonight.”

The Astros didn’t come close to touching him until Daryle Ward’s homer to right in the sixth, putting only six others on base and getting only one past second.

And the elbow that was surgically repaired April 8, 1999, after he blew it out in spring training? Just fine, thank you very much. Wood even hit the third home run of his career.

“A night game, the electricity in the air and Kerry on the mound, it was better than scripted for me,” Cub Manager Don Baylor said.

Wood wasn’t as dominant as he was the last time he faced the Astros at Wrigley Field, when he tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts in only the fifth start of his career.

The 1998 National League rookie of the year returned to the mound only four days shy of the two-year anniversary of that May 6, 1998 game.

He struck out four, but only one in the first four innings.

Most of his outs were on fly balls to the outfield, and he got some help from his teammates, including a diving, backhand catch by Sammy Sosa in the second inning.

He threw one wild pitch, walked four and sent a couple of Astros jumping out of the way of wicked inside pitches.

Wood showed he can hit the ball almost as well as he throws it. He hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat, the 11th home run given up this year by Jose Lima (1-5).