Astacio Convincingly Ends Drought : Baseball: He dazzles Mets, 5-0, for first victory since last June 25, Dodgers’ first complete game.

The wait had seemed interminable for Dodger starter Pedro Astacio, and no matter how much consolation and encouragement his teammates gave him, it was doing nothing for his spirit.

When you go 333 days without a victory, spanning 13 starts, 11 new teammates, two new starters, a new pitching coach and a players’ strike, well, it can be a bit disheartening.

“I don’t forget what it felt like,” Astacio said, “but it’s been a long, long time.”

Astacio’s anguish mercifully came to a halt Wednesday night as he pitched the Dodgers to a 5-0 victory over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

“He wanted to get this win so badly,” teammate Ramon Martinez said. “It had been almost a year, and although he didn’t say much about it, I know he was worrying about it. It was a great night for him.

“I don’t know how he’ll celebrate, but maybe he’ll buy us a bottle of champagne?”

Astacio, who allowed six hits, said: “Nah, I’m just going back to my room and watch TV.”

Right fielder Raul Mondesi said: “Come on, you don’t believe that, do you? He’ll be celebrating. You better believe it.”

It was Astacio’s first victory since June 25, 1994, and the Dodgers’ first complete game this season. He became the third National League pitcher to throw a shutout this season.

Astacio, who was 0-4 with a 4.45 earned-run average during the drought, never gave the Mets a chance. His curveball and sinker were working to such perfection that he induced 11 ground-ball outs through the first six innings.

“His curveball and sinker were just outstanding,” said catcher Tom Prince, who celebrated the occasion by hitting his first career triple, spanning 417 at-bats and parts of nine major league seasons. “I don’t think he got more than one or two balls up all night.”

Astacio was in such control of the game, it made observers wonder what kind of pep talk first baseman Eric Karros could possibly have given Astacio when he went to the mound at the start of the seventh inning.

Well, as it turns out, it wasn’t quite a pep talk.

“I wanted to tell him that he couldn’t hit,” Karros said, after watching Astacio extend his hitless string to 12 at-bats this season. “He got two hits against the Pirates a couple of years ago, and he thinks he can swing the bat. I had to remind him that he couldn’t.”

Perhaps the most amazing part of Astacio’s performance is that with the exception of the third inning, he did not permit a runner to reach second base.

In fact, the only other Met who experienced the sensation of even touching second base was Joe Orsulak in the fourth inning, only to find himself the latest victim of right fielder Raul Mondesi.

Third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo hit a ball toward the right-center-field gap, and it appeared to be a sure double, which would certainly score Orsulak from first base.

Orsulak took off running, peeked at right field as he reached second and decided that Mondesi had no prayer of catching the ball. Orsulak rounded second and headed toward third, when he saw the petrified look on the face of third-base coach Mike Cubbage.

Mondesi caught the ball. Somehow, someway, he caught the ball.

Orsulak backtracked and headed toward first, but had no prayer. Mondesi spun around and fired a strike to Karros for the inning-ending double play.

The play was so magnificent, it left the crowd of 14,423 standing and cheering Mondesi when he returned to the dugout.

Said Mondesi, whose fifth assist tied him for the National League lead among outfielders: “It’s no big deal. I make those kinds of catches before. I just like to see their faces when I do it.”

There were plenty of other supporting stars for the Dodgers (12-14)--third baseman Tim Wallach went three for three with a double and a home run, Karros hit his team-leading sixth homer, and center fielder Roberto Kelly got his first two hits since joining the Dodgers--but this night belonged to Pedro Julio Astacio.

“He was worrying about his delivery and everything,” said Dodger pitching coach Dave Wallace, who wrapped Astacio in a bear hug afterward. “Sometimes it’s paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you just have to compete and have fun.”

For the first time in 11 months, the pleasure was all Astacio’s.