Cubs Hear Call of Wild

The Chicago Cubs didn’t get many hits against Dodger starting pitcher Hideo Nomo on Saturday.

But thanks to Nomo, they didn’t need many.

Nomo walked four consecutive batters and five overall in the Cubs’ eight-run first inning, making the biggest contribution in their 8-1 victory over the Dodgers before a crowd of 34,652 at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs chased Nomo after only two-thirds of an inning--the shortest outing in his career--and sent 13 batters to the plate in the first. Nomo received a standing ovation from Cub fans when he was replaced by Darren Dreifort.

A pleasant afternoon quickly turned ugly for the Dodgers, and Nomo said the reason was obvious.

“My control was bad on my forkball, and I had problems with my off-speed pitches,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “There really isn’t much more to say about that.”

If only it were that simple, the Dodgers said.

“This wasn’t just the first start he has had problems with his control,” Manager Bill Russell said. “He has struggled to find his release point before, but he has usually worked out of it.

“He had a good outing his last time out, so I really don’t know what his problem was today.”

Nomo (1-2) pitched seven strong innings to earn his first victory, 3-1, against the Houston Astros on Monday. The Dodgers believed the right-hander was regaining his form after undergoing off-season surgery on his throwing elbow, and struggling during spring training.

But after his performance Saturday, Nomo’s earned-run average jumped from 3.38 to 7.02. He gave up eight runs, seven earned, on three hits without a strikeout.

He threw 45 pitches, 23 strikes, and his four consecutive walks were two fewer than the team record established by Brickyard Kennedy in 1900. Nomo lasted only three innings in his previous shortest start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 25, 1995.

“He just wasn’t able to make the adjustments he needed to get the ball over the plate,” pitching coach Glenn Gregson said. “Sometimes when you walk a couple of guys, it snowballs and causes a bigger problem.”

Nomo was the Dodgers’ biggest problem, but they had others.

After setting season highs for runs and hits in an 11-3 victory over the Cubs on Friday, the Dodgers got five hits Saturday. They were held scoreless through five innings against touted Cub rookie right-hander Kerry Wood (1-1), who was making his second start and his debut at home.

They failed in their fourth attempt to have their first three-game winning streak, and Trenidad Hubbard’s ninth-inning solo homer was all that prevented the Dodgers from being shut out for the third time.

“It’s not demoralizing to be down like that in the first, because you still have a full game to play,” second baseman Eric Young said. “But it’s definitely an uphill battle.”

Cub leadoff hitter Brant Brown stole second after walking to open the first. He advanced to third on a bunt single by Mickey Morandini, and Sammy Sosa walked to load the bases.

Mark Grace, Henry Rodriguez and Jeff Blauser walked to force in three runs. The Cub hitters became very patient as several of Nomo’s pitches bounced five feet in front of the plate.

After Tyler Houston fouled out and Scott Servais flied out, Grace scored on Wood’s two-out single to center, his first career hit. Rodriguez and Blauser scored, and Wood advanced to third, when Brown singled to right-center in his second at-bat in the inning.

The Cubs had a 6-0 lead, and Nomo’s work was done.

Wood scored when Morandini singled to right against Dreifort, and Brown scored from second on third baseman Todd Zeile’s fielding error. Grace filed out to center to end that half of the first, which lasted more than 30 minutes. Dreifort gave up only one more hit in 5 1/3 innings, and Jim Bruske and Antonio Osuna each pitched a scoreless inning.

But Nomo did too much damage for his teammates to overcome.

“I don’t think I was out of sync or out of rhythm, I just didn’t have good location,” Nomo said. “That was the only problem.”

The Dodgers can only hope.