GAGNE'S PUNCH IS A KNOCKOUT HE CLOSES DOOR FOR DODGERS DODGERS 3, BOSTON 2.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

The hat is salt-ringed and tattered, the way childhood hero John Wetteland used to wear it. The always-be-better-the-next-time mindset is something picked up from Kevin Brown. But the furious uppercut, the one Dodgers closer Eric Gagne delivers to punctuate a converted save, is his own trademark.

For the 26th time this season, Gagne used a fastball, changeup and curveball to deliver the symbolic crushing punch Friday as the most dominating closer in baseball did it again, striking out all four batters and saving the Dodgers' 3-2 victory against American League East-leading Boston in the opener of a three-game interleague series at Dodger Stadium.

Gagne, who hasn't walked a batter since May 4, leads the majors with 26 saves. He has three in the past three games, and against Boston he overmatched, overpowered and outwitted Trot Nixon, Doug Mirabelli, Lou Merloni and Jason Varitek, striking them out on 18 pitches. It was his fourth save of more than three outs.

``Everything we heard about him we saw to be true,'' Red Sox manager Grady Little said. ``If we can help it at all, we'd like to keep him out of the game.''

The Dodgers (44-28) have won nine of their past 12 and are 16 games over .500 for the first time this season, and Gagne has saved 59 percent of the victories.

``I'm glad it worked out because the manager was in a situation where it was a bullpen by committee (in spring training), not knowing we had a Cinderella story waiting all the time,'' Dodgers reliever Jesse Orosco said. ``This is day-in and day-out. It's almost like he was made for this because every day he's getting out there and responding. We're asking for advice.''

Gagne's lone blown save came May 7 against Atlanta. He responded by pitching a perfect 10th inning and the Dodgers went on to win in 16 innings.

Regarded as a marquee starting prospect until the offseason, Gagne, 26, has a 1.17 ERA, 56 strikeouts and four walks in 38 1/3 innings, allowing 18 hits.

``You dream about stuff like this,'' Gagne said. ``You always want to be a Pedro Martinez or a (Mariano) Rivera or a (Roger) Clemens. You dream about being the best.''

Dodgers starter Hideo Nomo (7-5), who recorded his 1,500th strikeout, won his fifth consecutive decision by pitching seven innings. Thanks to a solo homer by Adrian Beltre in the second off John Burkett (7-3) and a two-run double from Dave Roberts in the fifth, Nomo handed the bullpen a 3-1 lead after seven innings.

And that usually results in perfection - the Dodgers improved to 38-0 when leading after seven innings.

``It's almost like you want to say, 'Light's out,' and it has been,'' Roberts said of Gagne. ``He's throwing 96, 97, and that changeup he's got, it's just awesome. You know you can pretty much play eight innings and it's over. It's a great feeling.''

The only run Nomo yielded came on Shea Hillenbrand's one-out, opposite-field homer in the sixth inning that pulled Boston within 3-1. Hillenbrand's 12th homer left him a triple shy of the cycle, and he homered off reliever Giovanni Carrara with two outs in the eighth for his second two-homer game of his career.

After that, however, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy waved his right arm for Gagne and the first-year closer made sure the game didn't get away.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Hideo Nomo earned his fifth consecutive victory Friday, beating AL East-leading Boston.

(2) Adrian Beltre's teammates congratulate him after he hit a solo home run in the second inning off the Red Sox's John Burkett.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer