Marlins and Burkett Stymie Dodgers, 3-1

Florida Marlins starter John Burkett may be more famous for his bowling delivery than his pitching style, but he put on a display Friday night that left the Dodgers wondering what hit them.

Pitching as if he were facing, well, his own lineup, Burkett tossed a two-hitter and struck out nine in the Marlins’ 3-1 victory over the Dodgers in front of a paid crowd of 40,343 at Dodger Stadium.

It was quite a performance for the man who was raised hating the Dodgers, spending the first 11 years of his career wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform.

“I don’t hate those guys,” Burkett said, remembering the day the Giants were eliminated from the playoffs at Dodger Stadium, “but I’ll never forget this clubhouse on the last day [of the 1993 season] when everybody was down.”

Burkett, who has bowled five 300-games but never pitched anything greater than a four-hitter, came within two pitches of becoming a household name.

Burkett cruised into the seventh inning with a no-hitter until center fielder Brett Butler ruined Burkett’s shot at fame with a leadoff single to center. Raul Mondesi, who put on a dazzling defensive exhibition, then ruined the shutout in the eighth inning with a homer that landed in the second deck in left field.

It was only the second time in Dodger history and the sixth time in Dodger Stadium that a player reached the loge level, the last occurring Sept. 17, 1987, by Nick Esasky of the Atlanta Braves. Frank Howard is the only Dodger player to homer into the second deck, accomplished Oct. 6, 1963, in the fourth game of the World Series off New York Yankee starter Whitey Ford.

That was about it for the Dodger highlights, who spent most of their time standing at the plate marveling at Burkett.

“His location was phenomenal,” said Larry Rothschild, the Marlin pitching coach. “That’s more fun for me than seeing a guy throw the ball 100 mph.”

Burkett hardly was overpowering, never throwing a pitch that reached 90 mph. He threw nothing more fancy than an abundance of fastballs, mixed in with a few sliders. But, oh, did the man have pin-point control.

Burkett didn’t permit a ball to be hit out of the infield until the fifth inning, when Mike Blowers hit a fly ball to right field. His only walk was to Dodger catcher Mike Piazza in the fourth inning. And the 3-4 lineup punch of Piazza and Eric Karros failed to hit the ball out of the infield in six plate appearances that included three strikeouts, a double-play grounder, a foul out and a walk.

Perhaps the most amazing feat of all was that of the Dodgers’ nine strikeouts, seven players stood watching a called-third strike by home-plate umpire Ed Montague. No one even argued. The Dodgers simply walked away in disbelief.

Burkett, who said he realized he had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning, said he didn’t get nervous until after Mondesi’s leadoff homer in the eighth. Then, his mind began racing. He started figuring out when he had to face Piazza again.

“After Mondesi hit his,” Burkett said, “I was thinking when I had to face him. I thought, ‘Well, if I get everybody out, I wouldn’t have to face him at all.’ ”

Burkett did just that, retiring the final six batters, which included two strikeouts in the ninth without the Dodgers even swinging the bat.

“He had their team looking like us out there,” said Marlin right fielder Gary Sheffield, who hit two homers off Dodger starter Ismael Valdes (0-1). “I’ve never seen guys just take three pitches like that, and it wasn’t just one guy, it was five or six guys.”

The Marlins’ surge of offense might have actually shocked them more than Burkett’s pitching performance. This is a team that entered the game with a major-league worst .211 batting average and .303 slugging percentage. They had scored in only four of their last 40 innings and had gone 27 consecutive innings without scoring in a game that didn’t go extra innings.

Marlin Manager Rene Lachemann knows it’s a pitiful sight when he glances at his lineup card, and the best he has among the top six batters is No. 6 hitter Greg Colbrunn, who entered the game batting .235 with one home run.

Yet there was Lachemann hardly believing his eyes in the first inning when Sheffield hit a towering home run into the left-field seats. He gulped hard watching Colbrunn hit a second-inning home run into the right-field seats. And he could no longer contain his enthusiasm after watching Sheffield hit another homer into the right-field seats in the fourth inning.

The only time Valdes had given up three homers in a game was last Aug. 1 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.