Ishii Touches a Nerve in Latest Gem

Kazuhisa Ishii suffered a serious case of the yips in spring training, when the rookie left-hander from Japan was so erratic the Dodgers nearly demoted him to the bullpen. But he has shown nerves of steel in the regular season.

That was evident in his distinguished Dodger debut last Saturday and again Friday night, when Ishii blanked the San Diego Padres on two hits in six innings to lead the Dodgers to a 3-0 victory before 31,894 in Qualcomm Stadium.

Any doubts about Ishii’s confidence were erased in the first inning, when he fell behind No. 3 hitter Phil Nevin with a 3-and-1 count. The situation called for a fastball, but Ishii dropped a slow curve into the strike zone that Nevin, who hit .306 with 41 homers and 126 runs batted in last season, could only watch.

Nevin then grounded out to end the inning, setting the tone for an evening in which Ishii extricated himself from trouble and baffled the Padres with his pitch sequences.

“The ability to put the breaking ball in the strike zone on fastball counts was the reason he walked off without giving up a run in six innings,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said of Ishii. “He did that all night.”

Though Nevin looked fooled on that first-inning pitch, he said he was actually looking for the curve. And it still froze him, making the pitch all the more impressive.

“The reports we got were that he’d throw that pitch at any time, and he did,” Nevin said. “I thought that [curve] was coming, but it still looked like it was coming from first base. He threw a good game. He pitched me with a different pattern every at-bat.”

Ishii (2-0) struck out five and walked three, allowing only Deivi Cruz’s second-inning double and Nevin’s sixth-inning infield single. He has allowed no runs and four hits in 112/3 innings this season, striking out 15 and walking six.

Quite a contrast to the pitcher who walked seven and gave up five runs in 22/3 innings against Seattle in his final exhibition start on March 31.

“The difference [between the Seattle game and the regular season] is the importance of the games,” Ishii said through an interpreter. “Because these are regular-season games, my concentration level has gone up. And because a lot of American writers were writing that I didn’t have control, I wanted to show them I could throw with control.”

The Padres, who lost despite tying a club record by turning five double plays, threw a lineup of eight right-handed hitters at Ishii, benching regulars Mark Kotsay and Ryan Klesko, but that hardly fazed the Dodger pitcher, who was used to such tactics during his 10-year career in Japan.

The Dodgers, who have won six of seven, also got spotless relief from Giovanni Carrara, who threw perfect seventh and eighth innings, and newly crowned closer Eric Gagne, who retired the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save in four opportunities.

Tracy made one lineup switch, starting Alex Cora at shortstop in place of Cesar Izturis because Cora had a .500 lifetime average (seven for 14) with two home runs against Padre starter Kevin Jarvis, and Izturis was due for a day off.

The move paid dividends, as Cora was hit by a pitch and scored on Paul Lo Duca’s double in the third inning and tripled and scored on Lo Duca’s single in the fifth. Lo Duca, who celebrated his 30th birthday Friday, added a single in the first, and Shawn Green had an RBI groundout in the third.

Ishii’s only hint of trouble came in the sixth, but he was bailed out in part by a Mark Grudzielanek play that might qualify as an ESPN web gem, only it didn’t involve the web of the second baseman’s glove.

Trenidad Hubbard lofted a one-out popup toward the line in shallow right that first baseman Eric Karros appeared to have a bead on, but Karros yielded to Grudzielanek at the last second.

Grudzielanek overran the play, reached back and made a bare-handed catch of the ball, which umpire Paul Schrieber ruled would have been fair had it dropped. The catch proved critical when Nevin followed with an infield single and Bubba Trammell walked.

Instead of having the bases loaded and one out, there were runners on first and second with two out. Ishii recovered and retired Ron Gant on a fly to right.

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*--* Kazuhisa-mania Comparison of the first two starts by the Dodgers’ 28-year-old rookie left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii and the team’s 20-year-old rookie left-hander in 1981, Fernando Valenzuela: ISHII VALENZUELA 2-0 WINS-LOSSES 2-0 112/3 INNINGS PITCHED 18 4 HITS 10 0 RUNS 0 0 EARNED RUNS 0 6 WALKS 2 15 STRIKEOUTS 15 0.00 ERA 0.00 Note: Valenzuela won his first eight starts in 1981, with seven complete games and an earned-run average of 0.50. He didn’t allow an earned run through his first 341/3 innings

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