[0] NOMO FOILED AGAIN; FLORIDA CONTINUES TO HAVE PITCHER'S NUMBER : FLORIDA 8, DODGERS 4.Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer Having already won the three games it would take to get past the Florida Marlins The Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Marlins have played in Dolphin Stadium. in the playoffs, the Dodgers couldn't complete a game of catch-up Monday. On the strength of four first-inning, two-out runs off Hideo Nomo Hideo Nomo (born Aug. 31, 1968 , Osaka, Japan) Japanese baseball pitcher whose success with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 created new opportunities for Asian players in Major League Baseball. , the Marlins beat the Dodgers 8-4 on Monday to salvage one game in the four-game series at Dodger Stadium • • [ . The Dodgers stranded nine runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . Still, they made a game of it, scoring a run in the third inning and two more in the fourth to cut the Marlins' lead to 5-3. They threatened again in the fifth and seventh before pulling to within a run in the eighth. They were not dead until the Marlins' Jeff Conine Jeffrey Guy Conine (born June 27, 1966 in Tacoma, Washington) is a retired Major League Baseball first baseman/outfielder who played his best years with the Florida Marlins. , a UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX graduate, hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Mark Guthrie ``We'll take beating the Marlins three out of four every time,'' Dodgers manager Bill Russell Noun 1. Bill Russell - United States basketball center (born in 1934) William Felton Russell, Russell said. If you heard anything at all about this series beforehand, it was that it was a likely preview of the first round of the playoffs. Should the Dodgers win the NL West, which they now lead by 1-1/2 games over the San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California that currently play in the National League West Division. New York Giants history Early days and the John McGraw era , and the Marlins finish as the NL's wild-card team, and it appears they will, the two would meet in a best-of-five division series beginning Sept. 30. There are 18 games to play, not a whole lot but too many to put too much emphasis on the outcomes of this series or the next (against the Atlanta Braves). What should concern the Dodgers and their fans, however, is that Nomo's struggles continue. He is getting slower and wilder by the start. Just two of his fastballs reached 90 mph on Monday, as he was consistently between 84 and 88 mph with the pitch he uses to set up his wicked forkball fork·ball n. Baseball A pitch with the ball placed between the index and middle fingers so that the ball takes a sharp dip near home plate. fork . That's a sharp decrease from the low- to mid-90s he was consistently reaching earlier in the season. Since being hit on the arm by a line drive on July 26, Nomo has allowed 33 runs on 58 hits in 47-1/3 innings in eight starts. He continues to deny any arm trouble from being struck or from the high number of innings he has thrown in eight professional seasons in Japan and here. The Dodgers have taken measures to preserve him. Nomo, the only Dodgers starter to traditionally throw on the side twice between starts, has been restricted to once after his past three starts. ``He says he's healthy, and that's all we can go on,'' Dodgers manager Bill Russell said. ``But he's making a lot of bad pitches. That's obvious.'' After the Marlins' Gary Sheffield, Moises Alou and Darren Daulton launched home runs, Nomo was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning. It was his quickest exit since May 27, when he went four innings - against the Marlins. In fact, Nomo was 0-4 with an 8.19 ERA against Florida this season. The Dodgers have said repeatedly his struggles stem from flaws in his complicated windup. ``I'm aware of my mechanics (problems) recently,'' Nomo said. ``I can't really find out right now what the problem is. I go home and watch the video and try to figure out what is wrong. Right now, I have no idea.'' Whatever, it's a safe bet he won't start the first game of the division series. On the other side, figure Kevin Brown to get the nod against the Dodgers in Game 1. He completed a 2-0 season against them and is 4-1 lifetime. Brown was a little more hittable Monday than the last time the Dodgers saw him. They worked 10 hits off him this time, where as he one-hit them in July. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color) It was a familiar site. Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo watches Gary Sheffield round the bases on one of the three homers he allowed in a loss to Florida. Hans Gutknecht / Daily News |
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