Marlins Flail Away, Can’t Disturb Nomo : Baseball: Dodger pitcher holds Florida to three hits, strikes out 10, walks none and gets first hit in 3-1 victory.

The Florida Marlins listened to the talk shows. They were asked the questions. They listened to the murmurs Saturday night when they walked onto the field.

If the Dodgers’ Ramon Martinez can pitch a no-hitter against the Marlins, who can blame them for wondering what Hideo Nomo would do?

Dodger officials not only began double-checking the strikeout record (Roger Clemens, 20), but were researching the last time a team had thrown consecutive no-hitters (St. Louis Browns in 1917).

Even Nomo, who didn’t see Martinez’s no-hitter Friday night because he left after the sixth inning, seemed unconcerned. He spent most of the afternoon opening boxes of fan mail with the assistance of a dozen Japanese reporters.

The Marlins, incensed by the collective mind-set, stormed out of the clubhouse vowing to earn the respect of Nomo and everyone else in town.

So much for inspiration.

Nomo toyed with the Marlins all evening, pitching a three-hitter and getting his first major league hit, leading the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory in front of a paid crowd of 45,449 at Dodger Stadium.

“Just an ordinary day at the office, right?” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said.

“This guy is awesome, isn’t he? He just makes it look so easy.”

The Marlins at least managed to break up Nomo’s no-hit bid in the second inning, became only the third team not to strike out in the first inning and struck out only 10 times overall.

When you’re the worst team in the National League, you learn to take pride in the little things.

Nomo (7-1), winning his seventh consecutive game, drew the loudest ovation of the night for his single up the middle in the seventh inning for his first hit.

“The crowd gave me special power,” said Nomo, who ended an 0-for-35 streak.

“It let me exceed my abilities.”

The crowd gave Nomo a thunderous ovation when the ball reached the outfield while Lasorda leaped off the bench and began taunting third baseman Tim Wallach.

Lasorda had bet Wallach a sushi dinner for two earlier in the day that Nomo would produce his first hit in the game.

Nomo decided to go out and dominate the Marlins from start to finish.

The only mistake he made was when he opened the game by hitting Quilvio Veras. Veras stole second, Chuck Carr sacrificed him to third, and he scored on Jeff Conine’s sacrifice fly.

So much for the Marlins’ offense.

Nomo was in such command that he didn’t issue a single walk.

How incredible was that feat, which delighted Nomo more than anything else in the game?

It was the first time he had not walked a batter in a start since Oct. 1, 1992, when he faced the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in Japan, and only the third time in his entire career.

“I controlled the tempo,” Nomo said, “and had good rhythm.

The Dodgers (36-36), winning consecutive games for the first time since June 25-26, provided Nomo all the support he’d need in the first inning.

Delino DeShields, for the first time since June 23, led off the game with a single. Jose Offerman, who drove in four runs in Martinez’s no-hitter, followed with a two-run homer into the right-field seats off Bobby Witt (1-7). It was Offerman’s first home run in 139 at-bats, and his second of the season.

The Dodgers sat back and let Nomo do the rest.

The Marlins didn’t reach second base again until Veras’ one-out single in the sixth. Veras stole second base but never moved, watching Carr and Conine strike out.

Conine flung his bat and slammed his helmet after the strikeout, typifying another frustrating night for the Marlins (25-44), who now have scored one run in their last 26 innings against the Dodgers.

“I can’t believe some of the things I’m hearing now,” Lasorda said, “how there’s supposed to be a handful of pitchers back in Japan who are better than Nomo. Listen, if that was true, we’d be hearing about them all over the world.

“How do you get better than Nomo?

“The guy’s unhittable right now.”