DODGERS NOTEBOOK: GIANTS WILL SEE PLENTY OF NOMO.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

PHOENIX - There's no disputing right-hander Hideo Nomo is the ace of the Dodgers' staff, and manager Jim Tracy treated him as such by altering the rotation so Nomo can pitch in both of the upcoming series against fellow National League wild-card contender San Francisco.

Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn worked over different scenarios the past few days and on Tuesday restructured the starting rotation so Odalis Perez, Andy Ashby and Nomo will pitch in next week's series with the Giants at Pac Bell Park.

The Dodgers lead San Francisco by 2 1/2 games and the teams begin a three-game series Monday. They also play Sept. 16-19 at Dodger Stadium.

The restructuring of the rotation, possible because of Thursday's off day, also gives the club a chance to give a few extra days of rest to Perez and Ashby, both of whom have logged considerable innings.

Nomo is 2-1 with a 4.56 ERA in four starts against the Giants this season and 9-3 with a 2.51 ERA in his career.

``I'm foolish to ignore the fact of the success (Nomo) has had against the San Francisco Giants,'' Tracy said. ``I think we need to take advantage of that, and because of the day off it affords us the opportunity to do that. In Perez's case, we've talked about the number of innings he's pitched this year. It gives a couple of extra days' rest and keeps his battery fully charged.''

Nomo will start Friday against Houston, followed by left-handers Omar Daal and Kazuhisa Ishii, who earned the start with 5 1/3 shutout innings Tuesday against Arizona.

Perez, who has pitched a career-high 194 1/3 innings, faces Livan Hernandez in the opener at Pac Bell. Ashby, who made two starts all of last season because of elbow surgery, pitches against Jason Schmidt. Nomo will oppose Kirk Rueter.

Perez is 0-1 with a 3.90 ERA in two starts against the Giants, and Ashby is 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA. Hernandez is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA in two games against the Dodgers. Schmidt is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in one game and Rueter is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA.

When the teams play at Dodger Stadium, the rotations are aligned so Nomo faces Rueter in the opener, followed by Daal against Ryan Jensen, Ishii or Brown against Ortiz and Perez against Hernandez.

--Callin' on Quantrill: Paul Quantrill has his own way of telling Tracy he's available: He says nothing to the manager. Rather than go through the daily ritual of telling Tracy he's available, the rubber-armed Quantrill uses the no-news-is-good-news approach.

``I would say it takes me close to a year to train a manager,'' said Quantrill, who led the American League with 80 appearances with Toronto in 2001. ``I've been doing it long enough to where I'm not going to hurt myself, or I'm not going to allow someone to hurt me. If I felt I was going to get hurt, I would tell Tracy. Bottom line is I think I can pitch every day.''

Quantrill nearly does. He leads the major leagues with 76 appearances, and the more he pitches the better he is. Since getting bombarded the first two weeks of the season, Quantrill settled in to become the Dodgers' primary setup man for closer Eric Gagne, leading the majors with 31 holds thanks largely to a 2.16 ERA since April.

--Odds and ends: Manager Jim Tracy used his 94th different lineup in 138 games Tuesday when he batted center fielder Marquis Grissom first. Grissom, not always the most patient hitter, singled on the first pitch of the game. ``I think I've been working the count pretty good this year. I gave away some at-bats. You can't have it both ways,'' Grissom said. ... Dodgers center fielder Wilkin Ruan made his major-league debut as a pinch runner Sunday, and with two hits in his first two at-bats Monday - both in the seventh inning - he became the first player in six years to collect hits in his first two plate appearances in the same inning. Greg Norton did it last with the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 18, 1996

DODGERS vs. ARIZONA

Time: 3:05 p.m., Bank One Ballpark.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 1150-AM, 1330-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: The teams play for the final time this season with Dodgers RH Andy Ashby (9-10, 3.65 ERA) trying to keep D'Backs LH Randy Johnson (19-5, 2.63) from winning 20 games for the third time in his career. Johnson is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers and is coming off a rough outing against the Giants in which he allowed seven runs in 5 1/3 innings. Johnson is second in the league in ERA, wins, innings pitched (219), complete games (5) and shutouts (3). He leads the league with 285 strikeouts. Ashby is 2-1 with a 3.70 ERA in four starts against the D'Backs. He is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA in his last six starts.

- Brian Dohn

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DODGERS vs. ARIZONA (see text)