Nomo Creates Furor, Can’t Manage a Win : Baseball: In fourth start, he strikes out 14 in seven innings, but Dodgers lose to Pirates, 3-2.

Remember Fernandomania, the furor surrounding Fernando Valenzuela’s rookie season in 1981?

Although Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo, the second Japanese-born player to play in the majors, isn’t packing Dodger Stadium the way Valenzuela did, he’s attracting more media attention.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said Nomomania dwarfs Fernandomania.

“It’s worse,” Lasorda said. “It’s really worse, believe me. I came to the ballpark at 1:30 today and there were 15 guys out there with cameras waiting on him.

“They want to know everything he eats. They’re watching every move he makes. They want to know everything I tell him. They asked me, ‘What are you going to tell him tomorrow?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I’ll wait until tomorrow.’ They said, ‘What do you expect of him today?’ I said, ‘Win, that’s what I expect him to do.’ ”

And if Nomo continues to pitch the way he did in registering 14 strikeouts in Wednesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers might have to start printing their pregame media notes in Japanese.

Nomo, who left with a 2-0 lead after getting no decisions in his first three starts, pitched well enough to win, but the Dodger bullpen provided no relief, giving up two runs in the eighth and the winning run in the ninth.

The Dodgers stranded two runners in the bottom of the ninth when Dan Miceli struck out Raul Mondesi to end the game.

Nomo’s 14 strikeouts in seven innings were the most in the major leagues this season. They were the most strikeouts by a Dodger pitcher since Ramon Martinez put down 18 against the Atlanta Braves on June 4, 1990.

And they were the most strikeouts by a Dodger rookie pitcher since Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers struck out 15 in a 1954 game against the New York Giants.

Nomo, who yielded only two hits, got a standing ovation from the crowd of 28,164 after striking out catcher Mark Parent and rookie third baseman Freddy Garcia to end the fifth inning. Then the crowd began chanting his name in the seventh after he fanned second baseman Nelson Liriano for his 13th strikeout. He got a standing ovation at the end of the inning after he fanned Garcia for the third time in the game.

Nomo was lifted for relief pitcher Rudy Seanez at the beginning of the eighth inning with the Dodgers leading 2-0. He had thrown 106 pitches, 63 for strikes. He struck out shortstop Jay Bell three times and right fielder Dave Clark twice as he dominated the Pirates, the team with the second-worst batting average in the National League.

Dodger pitcher Tom Candiotti said Nomo has handled the media attention well.

“It’s tough because it’s like he’s representing his whole country over here,” Candiotti said. “If one of us goes over there, no biggee. But he’s got a big [Japanese] media market in Los Angeles. Just the pressure of playing against the best ballplayers in the world is mind-boggling, really, but he goes about his work real professionally and in the process I think he’s earned everyone’s respect around here.”

Nomo earned the Pirates’ respect, striking out nine of the first 12 batters he faced.

Nomo began to tire in the sixth, giving up a leadoff double into the right-field corner to pinch hitter Steve Pegues and walking center fielder Jacob Brumfield.

After striking out Bell for the third time in the game, Nomo walked left fielder Al Martin to load the bases.

However, he induced right fielder Dave Clark to hit into an inning-ending double play.

After Nomo left the game an inning later, the Dodger bullpen squandered a 2-0 lead.

Seanez lasted three batters, walking Orlando Merced and Bell after getting Brumfield to fly to center.

On came Omar Daal, who faced only two hitters, allowing a run-scoring single to Clark after striking out Al Martin.

Daal departed for Todd Williams, who allowed the tying single to pinch hitter Jeff King, who lined a hit into right field just past the outstretched glove of second baseman Delino DeShields.

Then Brumfield got the game-winning hit with a single off Antonio Osuna in the ninth.