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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Favorites Reside At Home Dodgers Turn To Nomo To Rally Them; Rockies Suffering From Inexperience

From Wire Reports

Everyone knows that Dodgers’ rookie Hideo Nomo is a newcomer to American baseball. But his opposing starter today, Cincinnati’s David Wells, is even more of a novice, at least as far as the National League is concerned.

“I have no clue what the Dodgers are all about,” said the longtime American Leaguer, who has never faced Los Angeles in his career going into Game 3 of the Division Series at Riverfront Stadium. “I’ve got to study those guys - I only have one night to do it. I’ve got to find their weaknesses.”

But with Cincinnati returning home for three games, up 2-0 in the series, there’s little pressure on Wells, who went to the postseason three times with the Toronto Blue Jays. All the urgency falls on Nomo, the highly publicized import from Japan, who is making his American postseason debut.

“He’s human,” Wells said. “He can be beat. But he’s in a different world, and he’s holding his own. You have to tip your hat to a guy like that. He got them where they are.

“There’s more pressure on him than anyone. Especially with our lineup - they can kill you.”

Nomo, who began the season as a non-roster player, went 12-6 and is the leading candidate for N.L. Rookie of the Year after holding opponents to a league-best .182 batting average. He has made playoff appearances in Japan and also played for his country’s silver medal-winning Olympic baseball team in 1988.

Through a translator, Nomo said he won’t approach today’s game any differently than any of his other starts.

“I don’t have to adjust my style,” he said. “It’s been the same throughout the season. I want to take the same attitude to the mound.”

He showed he can pitch in big games by winning a 7-2 victory over the Padres in San Diego last Saturday, clinching the N.L. West for the Dodgers. He walked two and struck out 11, increasing his league-leading total to 236.

“Everyone thought he’d lost a lot on his fastball and thought his arm was bothering him,” Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda said. “Everyone was concerned, no question about it. But he rose to the occasion when we needed it. He’s just a great, great pitcher. He got to the level he needed that night.”

Rockies at Braves

The difference between the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies is what separates teams in all sports. It is why the aging Houston Rockets made it four-games-and-out in last year’s National Basketball Association finals against the younger, flashier Orlando Magic, and why the San Francisco 49ers have five Super Bowl victories. They have all been here, done that, and no punk upstart tugging at their sleeves is going to distract them.

The Rockies have been left to ponder all the what-ifs in the wake of consecutive losses Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the first two games of a National League division series.

After rallying in the ninth to win by 7-4 Wednesday night, the Braves only need one more victory to clinch the best-of-five games series. And no team has ever won a five-game series after dropping the first two games at home.

They are scheduled to begin Friday, pending the field condition in the wake of Hurricane Opal.

The Rockies insist they can play with the Braves, the winner of the East Division four of the last five years, but seven innings does not a game make. In the first two games, the Braves scored the game-winning run in the ninth.

So Colorado Manager Don Baylor can hang his head, lament, as he did Wednesday night that “the thing is we should be up 2-0 going to Atlanta.” But the bottom line is that the Rockies’ playoff inexperience is showing.

“We beat ourselves, not making plays,” Baylor said.