Marlins Walk On Nomo

The Dodgers lead the major leagues in pitching, though they seemed to forget that Sunday in an 11-3 loss to the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium.

They ended the trip with one of their worst performances of the season from a starter, getting another ineffective outing from right-hander Hideo Nomo and shaky relief work from Jeff Williams before 7,930.

Florida broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning, taking a 7-2 lead and chasing Nomo (2-5), who was given a two-run cushion in the first. Nomo had command problems again, repeatedly falling behind early in counts and dropping his third in a row.

“I have to take responsibility,” pitching coach Jim Colborn said. “His timing was off, it became poor, and I wasn’t able to tell him what to do to get his timing back together. He just never adjusted.”

Nomo gave up eight hits--including the first home run of the season for No. 8 batter Mike Redmond--and seven runs (six earned) in 42/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five, throwing 65 strikes in 108 pitches, and lost a decision to the Marlins for the 10th consecutive time.

In last Tuesday’s 6-5, 16-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, Nomo walked five in five innings, throwing 61 strikes in a 104-pitch no-decision.

“The main thing is just to get ahead and throw more strikes, I think that’s important,” Nomo said Sunday through an interpreter. “I’m not too sure, specifically, what the problems are. I do know I need to work on some things.”

Marlin starter Ryan Dempster (2-3) needed only 110 pitches, including 74 for strikes, in tossing his second complete game of the season. Dempster also helped himself with a run-scoring triple in the fifth.

Williams had a rough time in his first appearance since being recalled from triple-A Las Vegas. The left-hander was pounded for four hits--Mike Lowell’s seventh homer among them--and four runs in the seventh.

Center fielder Dave Roberts suffered a right thigh injury that might force him out of the lineup, and the Dodgers finished 3-3 on the trip after taking the first two from the Braves. It was not the finish the Dodgers envisioned after such a strong start, and the biggest problem was their starter.

“I’m not going to sit here and talk about his approach publicly,” Manager Jim Tracy said of Nomo. “But what I will say is this: Strike one is a very important pitch. It’s not the type of pitch, it’s strike one, and it doesn’t matter if it’s Hideo Nomo or [any other Dodger starter]. Strike one is a very important pitch.

“When you have as devastating a split-finger as he has, it’s very important that he affords himself an opportunity to get to that pitch. If you throw ball one and ball two to major league hitters, you are allowing them to narrow their scope and use less of the strike zone. Then it becomes much more difficult to succeed up here. Very simple.”

Things were most difficult for Nomo and the Dodgers in the fifth.

Leading, 3-2, the Marlins got consecutive singles from Preston Wilson and Cliff Floyd, putting runners on the corners. Wilson tagged and scored on Lowell’s sacrifice fly to right and Derrek Lee flied out.

It appeared the Dodgers would get out of the inning when Eric Owens grounded to first, but umpire Jerry Meals ruled that the sliding Owens beat Eric Karros to the bag, enabling Floyd to advance to third and extending the inning.

Redmond then doubled to right-center to drive in Floyd and Owens, and Dempster’s run-scoring triple ended Nomo’s work. Omar Daal continued his outstanding work out of the bullpen with 11/3 perfect innings, but it didn’t matter.

“He was out,” Karros said of Owens. “The replays showed he was out. It was a tough play, but he was out.

“There’s not much you can do with that because it’s a situation where, unless the pitcher is covering, I’ve got to wait for the ball to get to me. Otherwise, I’m running past first base.

“There’s no way I’m going to run past, and then run back, and beat a guy. We went about that play the best way we could. Like I said, we got him by a bit.”