He Gets by With Help of Friends

He could walk completely unnoticed in downtown Los Angeles and draws little attention in the Dodger clubhouse.

His name appears in the newspaper only every fifth day. Seldom is he interviewed on radio or TV, and you won’t find him on a single billboard in town.

His name is Pedro Astacio, and as the Dodgers will attest, he’s pitching better than anyone on the team.

Astacio led the Dodgers past the Florida Marlins, 6-3, on Thursday at Joe Robbie Stadium. This time, there was no blown save, no errors behind him and even rare run support.

The victory was the Dodgers’ third in their last four games.

“Everybody wants to be famous, but I don’t worry about it,” said Astacio (5-7), who yielded seven hits and three runs in 8 1/3 innings, before turning it over to Antonio Osuna and then Todd Worrell, who got his 25th save.

“I just want to win ball games. I can’t control any of the other stuff. What I can do?

“Hey, you know me, I’m the same guy I’ve always been.”

Well, not exactly.

The Pedro Astacio who used to be the slowest worker on the staff has quickened his pace. The Pedro Astacio who used to dance off the mound, wildly pumping his fist, now is tranquil and serene. The Pedro Astacio who used to fall apart whenever something wrong happened, now shrugs it off.

“He’s been almost unhittable. He’s been our most effective pitcher the last month,” Dodger first baseman Eric Karros said. “And it’s not just pitching five innings a start, like some others I won’t mention. He’s out there at least seven innings each time.

“He’s always had a good arm, but he’s different now. He’s quicker. You don’t see him pumping his fist anymore when he strikes someone out.

“For the last 1 1/2 months, he hasn’t done any of that.”

The change occurred in June. Dodger pitching Coach Dave Wallace told Astacio he was wasting energy and firing up the opposition with his antics on the mound. And Reggie Smith, Dodger hitting coach, impressed upon him the importance of quickening the pace.

“Reggie talked to him,” Wallace said, “telling him not to give hitters enough time to think. We talked to him all the time about that, but sometimes it strikes a nerve when a guy talks to him from the hitter’s standpoint. It also keeps the defense more alert.”

Said Karros: “Hey, we didn’t make any errors tonight, and that’s something to be said about this club.”

Sure, Astacio probably won’t be as famous as Hideo Nomo. Nor as charming as Chan Ho Park. Nor as personable of Tom Candiotti. Nor as eloquent as Ramon Martinez.

But now people can understand the reason why Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, resisted the temptation to trade Astacio this spring.

Still, Astacio is this year’s hard-luck pitcher.

Sixteen times he has limited the opposition to three or fewer runs. But the Dodgers have failed to score in seven of his starts, and Thursday was the first time he have given up more than two runs and still won.

“He told me before the game that he was going to go as hard as he could and as long as he could,” Dodger catcher Tom Prince said. “It’s not easy in this heat, but he gave it everything he had.”

The Dodgers nearly caused Astacio to faint simply out of shock when they got him three runs in the first inning on Karros’ three-run homer. They had scored only two runs in the first inning of his previous 21 starts combined.

The Dodgers were playing without catcher Mike Piazza, second baseman Delino DeShields and outfielder Todd Hollandsworth. No matter. Everyone in the lineup but Astacio got at least one hit, five different players scored and four players drove in runs. There was even a suicide-squeeze by Prince, a double-steal by Wayne Kirby and Juan Castro and a successful hit-and-run by Karros.

“But let’s be realistic,” Karros said. “The team that we put out there tonight won’t win the division for us. That’s not taking anything away from anybody, but everybody is going to have to start playing like they’re capable.”

* DREIFORT GETS THE CALL

Dodgers recall pitcher Darren Dreifort to replace Tom Candiotti, who was put on the disabled list. C4