NOMO'S GOOD STUFF ENOUGH HE THROWS SIX STRONG INNINGS DODGERS 1, MILWAUKEE 0.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

MILWAUKEE - It made no difference that right-hander Hideo Nomo's delivery, ability to throw strikes, demeanor, contract and everything else isn't suited to the bullpen. He had three sub-par starts and Omar Daal was in the bullpen and waiting. So Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was bombarded with questions about pulling Nomo from the rotation.

Tracy never budged and he shouldn't need to.

Trying to wash away his team's hangover from a demoralizing loss the night before, Nomo pitched six strong innings and three relievers finished the job as the Dodgers beat Milwaukee 1-0 Wednesday at Miller Park.

While the Dodgers offense has been shut out a National League-leading eight times, the pitching staff leads the league with six shutouts.

The lone run came on Shawn Green's one-out triple in the third, scoring Adrian Beltre, who reached base on a wild-pitch strikeout.

``Hideo did a great job of keeping them ofalance,'' Tracy said. ``He had a split-finger (fastball) that was working very well and used his fastball very effectively. It was a great effort and a great show of character of this club to bounce back after (Tuesday).''

Nomo allowed four hits, walked three and struck out seven. Daal, bypassed in the 8-6 debacle the night before, recorded four outs, Paul Quantrill got two and Eric Gagne pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save, tying him for the major-league lead.

``To bounce back and have a game like this is good for everybody,'' Gagne said. ``You never want to lose a game like (Tuesday), but it's still a loss. This was important for us to bounce back and just forget about (Tuesday) and be aggressive and do what we were doing all year.''

Nomo (4-5) came under fire for three poor starts in which his control suffered. He was 1-1, but a 7.63 ERA and 14 walks in 15 1/3 innings prompted Tracy to say the leash he provided Nomo was shortening.

Prior to that, though, Nomo was a victim of poor run support. He was 2-4 but had a 2.56 ERA and allowed more than three runs just once. The Dodgers had scored two runs in his four losses.

After working with pitching coach Jim Colborn at keeping his legs lower and driving toward the batter, the results were noticeably better.

``I was talking to Colborn in the first inning and told him (Nomo) had good stuff, his fastball was alive,'' Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca said. ``He had a very good fastball and it made his split-finger a lot better. When you throw a little harder, the hitters need to gear up a little bit more and then you throw the split-finger and you'll get more swings and misses. He did throw strikes. He threw to spots.''

Nomo, who threw only a handful of curveballs, was aided by more questionable baserunning from the Brewers - they've had 20 baserunners thrown out in the past eight games.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Hideo Nomo allowed no runs and four hits in six innings, helping to shut out Milwaukee.

Morry Gash/Associated Press