Nomo Not Cracking in Stretch : Dodgers: He pitches a solid eight innings in 7-1 victory over Cubs. Piazza raises average to .363 and Butler makes inspiring play in center.

Hideo Nomo grew up dreaming one day of playing in the Japanese World Series, but the moment he left his homeland in February, he knew it never would happen.

He boarded a jet to this country, left his friends and family behind, and suddenly realized there was a much greater aspiration awaiting.

Sure, it has been gratifying proving to everyone that he can pitch in the major leagues, and the rookie of the year award would be a nice keepsake, but Nomo tells his friends that nothing would mean more than a World Series appearance.

Nomo, who has never been in a playoff game and whose last pennant race was four years ago, went out Tuesday and led the Dodgers to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in his Wrigley Field debut.

Showing no ill effects from his cracked fingernail, Nomo (11-5) yielded six hits and one run in eight innings. He struck out eight, including three of the first four batters he faced, and didn’t walk anyone.

“You don’t know how badly he wants this,” said Don Nomura, Nomo’s agent. “This is very, very important to him. He wants to help the Dodgers get into the World Series.”

The Dodgers, who have won seven of their last nine games, remain one game behind the Colorado Rockies with 16 games remaining. They maintained their two-game lead over the Houston Astros in the wild-card race.

Manager Tom Lasorda says the team has no intention of settling for the wild card. He wants that division title. In fact, many of the Dodgers say that a wild-card berth wouldn’t even be worth celebrating.

“Come on, what are we supposed to do, pop champagne for being the wild-card team?” said catcher Mike Piazza, who went three for five with three runs batted in, raising his average to .363.

Said second baseman Delino DeShields: “If we’re the wild-card team, we won’t be doing any celebrating. We’ll be happy we made the playoffs, but that’s not something you celebrate.”

Instead, taking the lead from veteran center fielder Brett Butler, the Dodgers played flawless baseball in their quest for their first division title since 1988. Butler opened the game by ripping the first pitch off the right-field wall for a double. And by the time the second inning ended, the Dodgers had a 5-0 lead with seven hits--two apiece by Butler, Chad Fonville and Piazza.

Yet, even with such a cozy lead, the Dodgers played the game with reckless abandon. There was left fielder Roberto Kelly slamming into the wall. There was third baseman Tim Wallach, playing with a severed knee tendon, going three for four with a home run.

Then there was the play that left the Dodgers in awe, proving to them just how much Butler wants to return to the playoffs.

Nomo, pitching with a 6-0 lead with runners on second and third in the eighth, watched Howard Johnson drive his pitch toward the center-field wall. Butler kept running, looked over his shoulder, caught the ball and slammed face-first into the brick wall. Butler collapsed to the ground, threw the ball into the infield, and went down again.

“That was scary,” Kelly said, “I thought he hurt something there. It was awesome to see, but we thought he was hurt.”

The Dodgers all ran out to check on Butler, and several minutes later, Lasorda came out to the delight of the crowd. Butler had a sore right wrist, but he was OK and remained in the game.

Nomo’s shutout was over, with Rey Sanchez scoring from third base after Butler’s catch, but Nomo marveled at the effort. When the inning ended, Nomo stood on the field, waiting to high-five Butler.

“It happened so quick,” Butler said, “you don’t even think about the wall. I just wanted to make that catch.”

Said Wallach: “You just expect that from Brett. That’s the way he plays the game. He wants to win as bad as I do.”

Then, of course, there’s Nomo. Saying he feels absolutely no pressure, he’s thriving in this pennant race, yielding a 0.44 earned-run average in three starts since Aug. 25. He didn’t allow a baserunner to reach third until the eighth inning.

“He’s back,” Piazza said, grinning. “You could tell right away he had extra pop on that fastball. Obviously, we need him healthy. We’re going to need him down the stretch.

“I guess as long as [the nail] holds together, we’ll hold together.

“There it is, a pennant race on a nail.”