Dodgers, Nomo Focus on One Game : NL playoffs: Season is in his hands, as L.A. somehow needs to pull off a sweep in Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI —  They came from diverse cultures, neither able to speak a word of English.

Each had an enormous cult-like following from his own country.

Their rookie seasons each occurred during bitter baseball strikes.

Each was instrumental in helping the American public fall in love with baseball again.

Fourteen years ago, Fernando Valenzuela saved the Dodger season, bringing them back from a 2-0 deficit in the division series to win the 1981 World Series.

Today, Hideo Nomo is being asked to pull off the same colossal feat, linking himself forever with Valenzuela in Dodger folklore.

Nomo will be handed the ball, and perhaps the fate of the Dodger season, tonight in Game 3 of the division series against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

Win tonight, and the Dodgers remain alive in the best-of-five series. Lose tonight, and the Dodgers go home for the winter pondering what went wrong.

“I know it looks bad,” Dodger catcher Mike Piazza said, “but at least we’ve got Nomo to pitch for us. Hopefully, he’ll pick us up. We’ve got to win one before we win two.”

Valenzuela kept the Dodgers alive in 1981 when he won Game 4 of the division series against the Houston Astros. He won Game 5 of the best-of-five National League championship series against the Montreal Expos. He pitched a complete-game victory in Game 3 of the World Series.

The only difference now is the Dodgers are vying to become the first team in major league postseason history to lose their first two games at home and win a best-of-five series.

Yes, as they have all season, the Dodgers are relying on Nomo.

“Like Fernando,” said Fred Claire, executive vice president, “Hideo has that inner confidence. It’s like he’s saying, ‘This is what I prepared all of my life to do. I’m going to show the world.’

“I sensed that with Fernando. I sensed that with Hideo.

“I don’t think there was ever a fear of failure. There was a dream to succeed. He’s living that now.”

Nomo indeed has become a household name in this country, although apparently word has not reached all parts of Ohio.

“What’s his name?” Red owner Marge Schott asked. “Nomo? Homo? What is it?”

The name is Hideo Nomo, a hero in Japan but a virtual unknown when he came to this country. It’s Nomo who saved the Dodgers this season, winning 13 games, leading the league with 236 strikeouts, and becoming the first rookie pitcher to start the All-Star game since, yep, Valenzuela.

It was also Nomo who pitched the Dodgers’ biggest game of the season last Saturday against the San Diego Padres, clinching the National League West Division championship for the first time since 1988.

And now, it’s Nomo who stands in the way of the Reds pulling off a three-game sweep with left-hander David Wells starting.

The Dodgers, to a man, realize that Ramon Martinez is their ace. They’ll tell you that Ismael Valdes has the best arm on the staff. Yet there’s something magical about Nomo, bringing an aura of confidence to the team.

It doesn’t seem to matter that Nomo is only 7-5 with a 3.03 earned-run average since the All-Star break. Or that he’s 2-3 with a 4.55 ERA when pitching on artificial turf. Or that he has allowed opponents to successfully steal 29 bases in 33 tries. The Reds have already stolen six consecutive bases this series.

“Throughout the season,” Nomo said, “I’ve always wanted to do my best. And I still do.”

Nomo, who never pitched in a postseason game in Japan, realizes that no matter what happens tonight, this is a season he will cherish. When he signed with the Dodgers in January, his only request was that he be given every opportunity to win a starting job in the rotation. Claire obliged by promising he would not sign a free-agent starter.

If this indeed is Nomo’s final start of the season, the next round of intrigue will be Nomo’s negotiations with the Dodgers. The Dodgers are expected to offer Nomo about $500,000 for the 1996 season, $65,000 more than they paid right fielder Raul Mondesi after he was named rookie of the year. Nomo’s attorneys, believing that Nomo indeed is a special case, are expected to seek in excess of $1 million.

“We’ll wait until the end of the season,” said Claire, who has no plans to give Nomo an incentive bonus based on attendance. “It’s not fair for me to comment on now. It’s not where our attention has been.”

Instead, the Dodgers are hoping Nomo delays all of their contract negotiations for three more weeks, leading the way for a miraculous comeback. The odds certainly are stacked. The Dodgers, after all, have not swept the Reds in a three-game series at Riverfront Stadium since 1988.

Yet, when Nomo takes the mound, anything can happen.

“He’s pitched great when we needed him,” Manager Tom Lasorda said, “and I don’t see that stopping now. He always rises to the occasion.

“And believe me, this is an occasion.”