IZTURIS SAVES NOMO PITCHER YANKED EARLY IN VICTORY DODGERS 8, COLORADO 6.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

DENVER - Eight years to the day after walking into baseball's most hitter-friendly venue and throwing the only no-hitter in the history of the place, Hideo Nomo returned to Coors Field on Friday night.

This time, instead of pitching himself into the record books, he probably pitched himself right out of the Dodgers rotation.

And this time, they might just lock the door behind him.

The veteran right-hander, continuing to give every indication his once-stellar career has morphed into a graceless twilight, failed to get beyond the second inning. He faced 11 batters and recorded just four outs. And his profound ineffectiveness resulted in a huge deficit for the Dodgers in a game they absolutely, positively had to win.

Thanks to his teammates, Nomo was spared the indignity of another loss. No thanks to Nomo, the Dodgers erased the deficit. And thanks to Cesar Izturis, who drove a two-out, two-run double off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field in the top of the 10th, the Dodgers won the game 8-6 in front of 23,572.

The question now isn't whether Nomo will start another game for the Dodgers, or even whether he will appear in one. The question now is whether there still is a place in the major leagues for a man who recently turned 36, recently came off a two-month stint on the disabled list and has posted a 9.00 ERA in four starts since being activated.

What isn't a question is this: In the heat of a National League West race that has tightened dramatically and figures to stay that way right to the end, the Dodgers can't afford the risk of sending Nomo back to the mound.

Armed with a one-run lead before he threw a pitch, Nomo made it clear from the get-go that he wouldn't be around long. After getting Aaron Miles to fly out, he gave up a single to Royce Clayton, walked Todd Helton and served up a fat one to Vinny Castilla, who swatted his 33rd home run of the season into the right-field stands.

Given a chance to settle down with the bases empty, Nomo instead walked Jeromy Burnitz on four pitches, after which Elmer Dessens began to warm up furiously in the Dodgers bullpen. Singles by J.D. Closser and Brad Hawpe followed, making it 4-1, and Dessens was just about ready.

But with Nomo unable to record that elusive second out, catcher David Ross finally did, picking Hawpe off first base. Nomo then struck out Jorge Piedra to end the inning.

When Nomo sat down, so did Dessens, a decision that would haunt the Dodgers an inning later.

Nomo began the second by getting the gimme strikeout of opposing starter Jamey Wright. But he then walked Miles on four pitches. Miles stole second and scored on a single by Clayton. That made it 5-1 and finally brought Dodgers manager Jim Tracy out of the dugout.

Dessens gave up two more hits before recording an out, and Nomo wound up being charged with six earned runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers began to chip away in the fourth. They scored three on a homer by Shawn Green and RBI singles by Jason Grabowski and Izturis, who ran his hitting streak to 11 games. They tied it in the fifth on a two-run homer by Milton Bradley, the slumping outfielder who was one day short of the one-month anniversary of his previous home run.

From there, though, the Dodgers went into what have become their customary offensive doldrums. Alex Cora followed Bradley's homer with a harmless single, but the Dodgers managed just one more hit through the ninth.

The Dodgers continue to struggle to score runs. Their starting rotation continues to struggle to pitch deep into games. And the second-place San Francisco Giants, who beat San Diego 4-1, continue to erase the final remnants of what once seemed like a safe lead for the Dodgers, with six head-to-head matchups awaiting over the next two weekends.

By winning, the Dodgers kept the margin at 2 1/2 games.

The Dodgers' saving grace, as it has been all season, was their bullpen. The less-than-imposing trio of Dessens, Scott Stewart and Mike Venafro shut out the Rockies into the seventh, getting the game to the usual cast of reliables at the back end.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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