Ishii Impresses in First Outing

It wasn’t prime time and the show is only starting, but Kazuhisa Ishii showed Friday why the early reviews have been sensational, earning a victory in his first exhibition start, 5-1, against the Atlanta Braves at Dodgertown.

The touted Japanese left-hander, whom the Dodgers believe will be as good as advertised, met expectations in his first test against another team, baffling the Braves in two innings before a sellout crowd of 5,357 at Holman Stadium.

Working with backup catcher Chad Kreuter, Ishii mixed sharp fastballs, sliders and forkballs while striking out four without a walk. Julio Franco had the lone hit against him, a two-out single to left in the first.

The former star of the Yakult Swallows threw seven consecutive strikes to open the game, freezing several batters with his late-breaking slider, had 21 strikes in 30 pitches and great movement on a fastball clocked at 94 mph. Ishii is scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Montreal at Dodgertown.

“I was a little nervous,” Ishii said through an interpreter. “But more than being nervous, I was more excited, pitching in the United States on American field, for the first time, in a game that actually counted.”

Grapefruit League games don’t matter to the Dodgers; Ishii’s performance does.

“Everything you heard, that’s what you saw,” said Dave Wallace, senior vice president. “It’s one game, it’s only two innings and it’s spring training, but the presence, the confidence and those things you look for ... those are nice attributes.”

Said pitching coach Jim Colborn: “He made them [the Braves] look silly.”

Ishii’s new teammates admired his composure in the face of intense scrutiny Japanese players face daily from a throng of Japanese reporters.

“You have to have some type of focus before you even step on that mound, and he clearly showed that,” Kreuter said.

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The Dodgers are also happy about rookie Cesar Izturis, soon to be selected the opening-day shortstop.

Izturis went three for four Friday--raising his batting average to .364--with a solo home run, two runs batted in, two runs and a heady defensive play. Playing second in the fourth, he backhanded B.J. Surhoff’s grounder close to the bag and flipped it to shortstop Alex Cora, whose throw beat Surhoff to first.

The Dodgers are so enamored of Izturis that they declined an opportunity to sign free-agent infielder Rey Sanchez, who is expected to sign with the Boston Red Sox. General Manager Dan Evans considered trading for Sanchez last season when the club was disappointed in Cora, now competing to make the 25-man roster as a backup. Cora is out of options, but executives with other teams said he might clear waivers, enabling the Dodgers to send him to triple-A Las Vegas.

“We like Rey Sanchez, we think he is a good player, and he was an option we explored last season,” Evans said. “But we thought, for both the short- and long-term progress of Izturis’ career, it would benefit the organization and Izturis not to bring in Rey.”

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Shawn Green, slowed because of tendinitis in his left (throwing) shoulder, played right field for the first time, going hitless in two at-bats.