NICE AND ISHII DOES IT AGAIN HE STARTS SLOW BUT WINS HIS 10TH DODGERS 8, BALTIMORE 4.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

BALTIMORE - That sunny February day Kazuhisa Ishii signed his contract with the Dodgers, pitching coach Jim Colborn caught flak from the organization because he said the Japanese lefty had a chance to be a 20-game winner.

The Dodgers brass wanted expectations kept low and Ishii's profile even lower.

Nice try.

Ishii followed his formula for success once again Saturday, allowing three first-inning runs before finding his rhythm and pitching 6 1/3 innings to become the quickest Dodgers pitcher to 10 wins in more than a decade with an 8-4 win against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Ishii (10-1) joins Arizona's Curt Schilling (12) and Atlanta's Tom Glavine (10) as the only 10-game winners in the National League. He is the first rookie to start 10-1 since Oakland's Tim Hudson in 1999 and appears ready to shatter his modest preseason goal of 12 wins.

``This game was the first time I really felt like I was when I was pitching well back in Japan,'' Ishii said through an interpreter. ``The main thing is I was able to spot my fastball to the corner of the plate. In the back of my mind, when I'm able to do that and continue to throw fastballs on the outside part of the plate, that's when I'm pitching at my best.''

He is off to the best start by a Dodgers starter since Doug Rau began the 1977 season 11-1. The last Dodgers lefty to reach double digits in wins was Bobby Ojeda (10) in 1991. Ishii also achieved 10 wins in the 61st game, the fastest Dodger to that mark since Ramon Martinez won his 10th game in the 60th game of the 1991 season.

``I watched the first day (Ishii) threw on the side in (spring training), and just watching him throw the fastball and the curveball, and being able to put it where he wanted, and being lefty and having confidence, that's all you need,'' Dodgers outfielder Marquis Grissom said. ``He's always keeping us in the game. It ain't always pretty, but he's getting the job done.''

Tracy was talking about Ishii's propensity to walk batters and put himself in trouble, but there was little of that after the first inning. Ishii allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings but walked a career-low two. However, he has walked 46 in 74 1/3 innings.

``He's 10-1 and that is absolutely tremendous,'' Tracy said. ``I think he's capable of even more. That's how good I think this young man is.''

Typically, it takes Ishii a few innings to find his mark, which usually means slowing down his delivery and keeping his balance point, but this time he found it after allowing a three-run homer to Tony Batista in the first inning as Baltimore went ahead 3-1. He retired the next seven batters and faced the minimum in the next five innings, getting through the sixth with three pitches.

``I didn't have to tell him anything about his mechanics. He sort of just found them,'' Colborn said. ``The guy bends, but he doesn't break. He has a way of getting tough when he needs to get tough and he's got the pitches to do it.''

While Ishii stabilized, the Dodgers offense rallied again for him. And it always does. The Dodgers are averaging 6.3 runs when Ishii starts and 4.0 runs in the rest of their games.

Shawn Green began this comeback with a two-run homer in the third and Cesar Izturis' RBI groundout in the fourth gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

They built the lead to 6-3 in the seventh on an RBI triple from Dave Roberts and a run-scoring single by Paul Lo Duca.

``I'm just wondering what kind of start it looks like if the guy goes out there and walks one or two or three in nine innings,'' Tracy said. ``I'm anxious to see what one of those starts looks like. I really am.''

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Kazuhisa Ishii gave up three first-inning runs and nothing else through the rest of his 6 1/3 innings Saturday.

Timothy Jacobsen/Associated Press