Who Humbles Whom When Nomo Pitches? : Baseball: He shuts out Cardinals for 8 1/3 innings, wins fourth in row for Dodgers, 5-2.

Come on, it’s not supposed to be this easy.

This is the major leagues, for crying out loud. The best players in the world are supposed to be here. This game has humbled plenty of baseball’s finest.

It was going to happen to Hideo Nomo, remember? He might have been a star pitcher in Japan, but hey, these are the major leagues.

Well, after watching Nomo have yet another stellar performance Monday night in the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, there’s only one remaining question:

Why in the world are major league scouts still hanging around this country when they could be checking out Japan?

After all, Japanese baseball officials will tell you Nomo was not even the best pitcher there.

“The way Nomo is pitching over here,” Dodger center fielder Roberto Kelly said, “you’re going to see a flock of Japanese players coming over here. I mean, this guy is making it look easy. If he’s not the best, I’d sure hate to see those other guys.”

Nomo (4-1) cruised to his fourth consecutive victory, bringing the Dodgers (25-25) to within two games of the first-place Colorado Rockies in the NL West. He yielded only three hits and two runs (one earned) in 8 1/3 innings, and was within two outs of his first major league shutout until Chris Sabo’s two-run double.

“He doesn’t need to worry about that,” Cardinal catcher Tom Pagnozzi said of Nomo’s missed shutout. “He’s got the pitches to throw some no-hitters before his career is over.”

Said Brian Jordan: “He’s going to be a 20-game winner, no doubt about it.”

Nomo never won 20 games in any of his five seasons in the Japanese League, but then again, U.S. major league hitters are having a whole lot more difficulty solving him than the Japanese did.

The most revealing statistic of Nomo’s dominance is not his league-leading 83 strikeouts, eight of them on Monday. Or his 2.62 earned-run average, which ranks fifth in the league. Or his victories in four consecutive starts, which he last accomplished July 25-Sept. 27, 1992, in Japan.

Take a look at what the league is hitting against him: .173.

It’s the lowest batting average yielded by a pitcher in the majors.

“He was just outstanding,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “He pitched as good as you’ll ever want to see.

“Remember those high pitches he used to throw? He doesn’t do that anymore, and you can see the difference.”

The Cardinals couldn’t believe the difference. The last time they faced Nomo, on May 12, he walked seven in only four innings and left the game with a no-hitter intact. He has walked more than four batters only once in his last seven games, striking out 64 and walking 24 in 51 2/3 innings.

“He’s improving all of the time,” catcher Mike Piazza said. “He knows how to work the corners now. In Japan, the pitching was up and down. Here, it’s from left corner to right corner of the plate, and that’s what he’s doing.”

Nomo, who was supported by nine hits (three by Delino DeShields) against Cardinal ace Ken Hill, allowed only one runner as far as second base through eight innings. The paid crowd of 24,806 was anticipating a shutout, but shortstop Jose Offerman led off the ninth with a throwing error.

Nomo, who had allowed only one baserunner since the third inning, suddenly appeared rattled. He walked Jordan. Then, Ray Lankford hit a sharp ground ball to first baseman Eric Karros, moving the runners to second and third bases.

Sabo hit the first pitch into left-center field. Pitching coach Dave Wallace slowly walked to the mound, and Nomo threw the rosin bag in frustration.

“I was disappointed,” Nomo said. “I would have liked to have a shutout. But it’s OK. My task and my goal is to get them out and win games.”

Raul Mondesi and Kelly each had two hits and a run batted in.