DODGERS NOTEBOOK: BIG TEST FOR NOMO TONIGHT.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

PHOENIX - Hideo Nomo declined to speak with reporters Tuesday, an obvious sign that the time for talking has passed and the time for pitching finally has arrived. That in itself is something of a hurdle cleared, for there was a time not so long ago when many Dodgers observers wondered if the veteran right-hander ever would pitch again.

Tonight, against Arizona, Nomo will pitch again, for the first time since he was torched for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings June 30 against San Francisco. The next day, Nomo went on the disabled list with what officially was termed rotator-cuff inflammation. His more pressing ailment, however, was the toll his bad results were taking on his confidence.

Both the shoulder and the mind appeared to be healed in Nomo's most recent rehabilitation start, a 5 1/3-inning, 10-strikeout effort last week for Triple-A Las Vegas. The real test comes now, when he faces major league hitters.

``I'm anxious to see from a velocity standpoint where he's at,'' said Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, who won't have Nomo on a pitch-count limit. ``Is he able to maintain it in a major league game? His command is what I'm anxious to see. Those things were failing him when he had to go onto the disabled list.''

Nomo threw at least 13 pitches at 90 mph or higher in his final rehab start and was consistently at 88-89. Before going down, when he was 3-10 with an 8.06 ERA, he rarely topped 86. Tracy said regardless of tonight's results, Nomo will start against the Diamondbacks again Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

Elsewhere on the injury front, pitcher Brad Penny (right biceps strain) threw from the stretch off flat ground during his daily routine of playing catch, a step forward that both pitching coach Jim Colborn and physical therapist Pat Screnar said wasn't all that significant.

``He's making progress in little stages,'' Colborn said.

Tracy said Penny won't throw off a mound anytime soon, and certainly not before the Dodgers return home Sunday night from their current 13-game road trip. Also, left-hander Wilson Alvarez played catch for the first time since leaving Friday's game at New York with a bruised left elbow. Kazuhisa Ishii, forced out of Sunday's game with the Mets after six innings, is fine.

--Not slumping: Tracy denied the suggestion that center fielder Milton Bradley is in a slump and said he has no plans to move Bradley out of his customary third spot in the lineup.

Bradley entered Tuesday's game with three hits in his past 25 at-bats, a stretch during which he had struck out 13 times. But Tracy pointed to the fact Bradley had drawn six walks during the same stretch, all while hitting ahead of the sizzling Adrian Beltre.

--Remembering Crawford: A funeral service will be held Sept. 7 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park for former Dodgers outfielder Willie Crawford, who died Aug. 27 of kidney disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Crawford played 989 games for the Dodgers and played in the majors from 1964 to '77, hitting .268 with 86 home runs and 419 RBI.

Born in Los Angeles and a graduate of Fremont High, Crawford spent his first 12 big-league seasons with the Dodgers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

DODGERS at ARIZONA

-Tony Jackson