Nomo Is on Pace to Remain the Ace

While Kevin Brown wallows in the bullpen, trying to regain the form that made him one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers, Hideo Nomo continues to prove the Dodger staff is not without an ace.

Nomo gave up one run and five hits in seven innings, striking out eight, and closer Eric Gagne survived a harrowing ninth as the Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros, 2-1, Sunday before 28,891 in Minute Maid Park.

Shortstop Cesar Izturis hit a two-run double in the second inning, third baseman Adrian Beltre made a potential game-saving catch in the ninth, and a highly questionable decision by Houston Manager Jimy Williams backfired, helping the Dodgers improve to 26-11 in one-run games.

The Dodgers stayed within six games of Arizona in the National League West and moved two games ahead of San Francisco in the wild-card race.

With a three-game series against the Diamondbacks beginning tonight in Phoenix, the Dodgers have a chance to alter the landscape of the division.

“We’ve talked a lot about the wild card, but what’s wrong with looking at the division?” Manager Jim Tracy said. “Why be satisfied with the wild card? Let’s shoot a little higher.”

The mood in the Dodger clubhouse would not have been so upbeat had the Astros’ ninth-inning rally not fizzled. After Dodger left-hander Jesse Orosco struck out the dangerous Lance Berkman to end the eighth, Jeff Bagwell opened the ninth with a single off Gagne, and Jason Lane beat out a sacrifice-bunt attempt for a single.

Up stepped Orlando Merced, and just about everyone in the park expected a bunt. But Williams shunned the sacrifice, and Merced struck out.

Geoff Blum, who homered in the second inning, followed with a popup down the left-field line. Beltre, at the end of a 90-foot sprint, made an over-the-shoulder basket catch in front of the short fence in foul territory for the second out. Gagne then struck out Gregg Zaun for his 46th save in 50 chances.

“I did not think Adrian Beltre would get to that ball,” Tracy said. “I don’t know if you can make a better catch when you have one step to go before your quadriceps smashes into [the wall]. That was a huge out.”

Added Gagne: “I thought that ball was in the stands. I didn’t even look at it. It was a great catch. It helps a lot when you can get a free out like that.”

Another superb start from Nomo didn’t hurt. There was speculation in mid-May that Nomo, who was 2-5 with a 3.91 earned-run average in his first eight starts, would be demoted to the bullpen.

But since a lengthy chat with Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn, who stressed the importance of working ahead in the count, Nomo has gone 11-1 with a 3.12 ERA in his last 21 starts, 17 of which have resulted in Dodger victories.

“I’ve run out of adjectives to try to describe the job Nomo has done for this club all season long,” Tracy said. “He showed up in spring training as a guy we were hoping would give us some innings as a No. 3 or 4 starter, but you can make an argument for this guy being the ace of many staffs in our league.”

Nomo’s forkball was especially effective Sunday, not so much because the pitch resembled a thigh-high fastball on approach before darting down toward hitters’ ankles as it reached the plate.

Nomo (13-6) did a masterful job of setting up his out pitch by throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of 27 batters and working ahead in the count. That enabled him to expand the strike zone and induce more defensive swings.

“In May, we talked about his inefficiency when it came to throwing strikes early in the count,” Tracy said. “It’s obvious how much more effective he is when he throws early strikes, and today’s performance is indicative of everything I’ve been talking about.”

Nomo had virtually no margin for error.

The Dodgers are 22-10 against left-handed starters, and it appeared they might fatten up on Astro left-hander Carlos Hernandez when they scored two runs in the second inning Sunday.

Beltre, who had three hits, sparked the rally with a bloop single to left, Eric Karros drew a one-out walk, and backup catcher Chad Kreuter bunted for a single to load the bases.

Izturis, who is batting .320 from the right side, lined a two-run double into the right-field corner for a 2-0 lead.

Nomo and the Dodger bullpen made those two runs stand up, though, and the Dodgers won for the 13th time in 17 games.

“All of our starting pitchers are throwing the ball well, and fortunately I’ve stayed injury free,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “Kevin Brown has been hurt, and I can’t cover what Kevin means to this team. But at the same time, we’ve been playing well and pitching well.”