Nunez Wasn’t Nervous

It would be easy for Jose Nunez to sulk after his inauspicious major league debut Tuesday night, having given up a game-winning two-run homer to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Luis Gonzalez.

But the rookie left-handed reliever from the Dominican Republic was taking the high road in the Dodger clubhouse Wednesday afternoon.

“Obviously, it could have been better,” Nunez said in Spanish. “That was not what I had in mind. Those guys are veterans.”

Manager Jim Tracy turned to the untested Nunez, 22, who had never pitched above Class-A ball, to protect a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning and face left-handed hitters Mark Grace and Gonzalez.

Grace doubled before Gonzalez blasted a hanging curveball into the right-field pavilion.

“I don’t look at the negatives,” Tracy said. “What was interesting to me was how he handled it after [the homer]. He got a weak fly ball to left field and then struck out the side.

“He maintained his composure.”

When asked if he was nervous taking the mound, Nunez smiled.

“No,” he said. “Not at all.”

While Nunez is the lone left-hander in the Dodger bullpen, Tracy using him in such a situation against the likes of Grace and Gonzalez raised many an eyebrow, considering that the Dodgers said they would bring the Rule V draft pick along slowly.

Pitching coach Jim Colborn said Nunez, who gave up another homer to Gonzalez on Wednesday, would bounce back and not be psychologically scarred by the moment.

“I think everybody made a point to pat him on the back and tell him it was all right,” Colborn said. “He’s a tough person and it won’t affect him mentally. Of course, we won’t know that until he pitches again. The major leagues is a tough place to go to school.”

Said Nunez: “I just have to keep working and get stronger.”

*

Kevin Brown threw a simulated game to two batters for 15 minutes Wednesday before joining physical therapist Pat Screnar in the Dodger Stadium outfield for light jogging and backward walking to test out his strained right Achilles’ tendon.

Brown is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list in time to start Sunday’s game against San Francisco, if he’s healthy.

“Our goal is still the 8th,” Colborn said. “But he has to go through a rigorous battery of calisthenics and exercises and pass the trainers’ test. The trainers’ test is tougher than the pitching coach’s test.”

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

ANDY ASHBY

(12-13, 4.92 ERA, in 2000)

vs.

DIAMONDBACKS’

BRIAN ANDERSON

(11-7, 4.05 ERA, in 2000)

Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m.

* TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

* Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330)

* Update--Ashby, who signed a three-year, $22.5-million contract, makes his Dodger debut. Ashby is 2-5 with a 5.44 earned-run average in seven career appearances against the Diamondbacks. In 11 games against the Dodgers, Anderson is 3-3 with a 2.26 ERA.