Nomo Comes Close to No-No : Dodgers: Pitcher gets two hits in 3-0 victory, one more than Giants, who get only an infield single in seventh.

They stood on their feet, cheering, waving, expressing their appreciation for Hideo Nomo.

It didn’t matter to the Candlestick Park fans that Nomo is a Dodger in this hated rivalry. It didn’t matter that they would have given anything to see him lose. This night, they switched their allegiance away from the San Francisco Giants and were unashamedly pulling for Nomo to pitch a muanda , a no-hitter.

Royce Clayton’s infield single with two out in the seventh left Nomo with a one-hit shutout in the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory in front of a season-high crowd of 43,167.

“I didn’t think I’d get a no-hitter, anyway,” Nomo said. “I started thinking about it after the third inning, but I really didn’t think it was going to happen.”

Nomo, who struck out 11, actually outhit the Giants by himself, 2-1.

He won the fans’ hearts by the fifth inning when they sensed the potential no-hitter, and he breezed through the first 6 2/3 innings before walking Mark Carreon on a full count.

That brought up Clayton, who was hitless in seven at-bats with five strikeouts against Nomo. Nomo got ahead in the count, 1-and-2, after Clayton made a futile swing at a forkball. The next pitch was a ball, and Giant Manager Dusty Baker made the critical decision.

He decided to send Carreon on the pitch.

Carreon took off, and Clayton slapped the ball into the hole. Shortstop Jose Offerman ranged to his right, and realizing that he had no play at second, planted and fired to first. Clayton beat the throw by a half-step, drawing a mixture of groans and cheers.

The no-hitter was over.

“The moment he hit the ball, I thought it was going to be a base hit,” Nomo said.

Said Clayton: “I thought it was going through. [Offerman] made a great play to backhand the ball. I had to hurry just to make it.”

It hardly mattered to Nomo (9-2). He took a deep breath, struck out Kirt Manwaring on four pitches and never gave up another hit.

Just for fun, he drove in his first major league run with a two-out single up the middle off reliever Shawn Barton in the ninth inning.

The crowd honored Nomo by giving him a loud, rousing ovation when he took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, and chanted his name throughout the final three outs.

Certainly, the Giants were paying homage. They’ve never seen Cy Young in person, but the way they figure it, nobody could be better than this guy.

Nomo has shut out the Giants for 23 innings this season, yielding four hits and striking out 31.

“Congratulations, you did great,” Giant General Manager Bob Quinn told Nomo on the way to the news conference. “I’m proud of you. Good luck.”

The Giants are the first team to face Nomo three times his season, and they’re just as clueless against him now as the first time they saw him May 2 in front of a paid crowd of 16,099 at Candlestick.

The Giants are batting only .056 against Nomo his season, and since Darren Lewis’ leadoff single June 24, they have two hits in 55 at-bats.

“I’ve seen him with better control in L.A.,” Clayton said, “but he had some giddyap with his fastball tonight. He didn’t throw strikes with his splitter, but he had much more velocity on his fastball.”

Said Dodger catcher Mike Piazza: “I wouldn’t compare it to Ramon’s [Martinez] no-hitter because he walked a batter early, but he was just as dominating. He was unbelievable.”

The only ones looking more brilliant these days are the Dodgers for their $2-million gamble when they signed Nomo without seeing him in person.

“He just had that presence about him,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, “the presence of a winner. Here’s a guy who had everything.

“What he was saying was, ‘I’m willing to risk everything just to go against the best.’

“Perhaps the most memorable thing he said is, ‘I haven’t proven anything. I’ve done nothing.’ That impressed me. That impressed me a lot.”

Considering that Nomo missed the last two months of the 1994 Japanese season because of an inflamed shoulder, and the Dodgers’ scouting report consisted of a two-minute video, Claire realizes that Nomo wasn’t the only one taking a risk.

“You guys would have had me six feet under ground,” Claire said. “The stories would have me giving him $2 million without seeing him.

“I didn’t want to say it at the time, but one of the scenes on the film clip was at the All-Star game with the manager taking him out of the game.

“Well, he had kind of a good look on his face.”

* NATIONAL LEAGUE: Darryl Kile becomes the league’s first 12-game loser as the Houston Astros fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1. C6

* ROSS NEWHAN: The Atlanta Braves, the only division leader not to make a significant trade before the non-waiver deadline, look as dangerous as ever. C6