Reds Lose to Nomo of Old

Hideo Nomo could hear the whispers after losing his last two decisions.

This year’s Nomo didn’t look like last year’s National League rookie of the year, when his fastball was clocked at 86-90 mph during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates last month, five mph slower than normal.

But Nomo quieted the doubters by striking out nine as the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2, Sunday before 47,847 at Dodger Stadium to cut the lead of the first-place San Diego Padres to 3 1/2 games in the National League West.

Dodger catcher Mike Piazza thinks Nomo has taken an unfair rap. “The guy’s pitching pretty well,” Piazza said. “He’s been getting a lot of criticism, but I don’t know a pitcher that is going to go through a season and have his best stuff. Just because he loses a few miles an hour on the radar gun is no need to panic all of a sudden.”

Did Nomo, who gave up two runs on five hits in eight innings, feel he redeemed himself?

“I was satisfied that the team won the game and my pitching made the victory possible,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “That made me satisfied.”

Red third baseman Willie Greene, who struck out three times but belted a two-run homer in the sixth, was impressed by Nomo.

“I had the hat trick today,” Greene said. “I thought he looked good.”

Red Manager Ray Knight thinks Nomo (7-5) hasn’t lost anything.

“The fastball has never been his best pitch,” Knight said. “Guys are going to hit his fastball. His best pitch is his split finger. He’s got a devastating off-speed pitch and if you swing at it, with all that motion, you’ll miss it.

“I don’t know what the gun readings are on him, but his out pitch is his split-finger pitch.”

Nomo, who came into the game batting .091, had two doubles off Dave Burba.

His double to right in the third and his ground-rule double into the left-field box seats in the sixth were the first extra-base hits of his career.

Eric Karros, who batted .232 in the first month of the season, has finally started to produce for the Dodgers and is batting .500 (12-24) with two homers and four runs batted in this month.

Karros went three for four with a double, a home run and two RBIs as the Dodgers overcame a 2-1 eighth-inning deficit off former Angel reliever Lee Smith, who gave up two runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Said Karros: “You can pick apart the season and divide it up into different sections and say, ‘You know what, this guy’s really a great ballplayer or this guy is [bad].’ But the bottom line is September is when you evaluate. If you’re going to evaluate periodically, it makes for good conversation, but it’s irrelevant.”

With the Dodgers trailing by a run, Delino DeShields reached first on a one-out drag bunt that Smith (0-1) had trouble fielding and advanced on a throwing error by first baseman Hal Morris.

Left fielder Todd Hollandsworth, who had grounded out with runners in scoring position in his two previous at-bats, worked the count to three and two before driving in DeShields with a single to left to tie it, 2-2.

“I had a really miserable third at-bat,” Hollandsworth said. “I left a runner on third, but I had a chance to redeem myself. Lee Smith’s the all-time saves leader, but I tried to stay ahead of him in the count and get a pitch I could handle. If I had to go to three and two to get that pitch, that’s what I was going to do and I did.”

Karros drove in Hollandsworth, who had stolen second, with a two-out double into the left-field corner as the Dodgers won their second consecutive one-run game.

“Karros is more confident,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s not trying to swing too hard, and he’s putting the ball in play.”