Nomo Fever Hits L.A. : Dodgers: He strikes out 13, throws two-hitter against Giants for his first shutout in majors, before sellout of 53,551.

Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo was quite curious about American culture when he entered this country four months ago, but as he discovered, Americans were equally fascinated with him.

He wanted as little attention paid to him as possible, but from the moment of his arrival, Nomo realized it was impossible.

Nomo’s dream has been that his allure would pass as the season went on, but as he realized Saturday night, his pitching has made that an impossibility.

Nomo pitched a two-hit shutout, leading the Dodgers to 7-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in front of a sellout of 53,551 at Dodger Stadium--the largest of the season. It was Nomo’s first major league shutout and complete game. At one point, he retired 23 consecutive batters.

Nomo (5-1), whose fifth consecutive victory lifted the Dodgers into a first-place tie with the Colorado Rockies, can forget all about being just another pitcher.

The crowd cheered wildly for each of his 13 strikeouts. It went absolutely nuts each of the four times he retired Giant all-star Barry Bonds, particularly when he struck out Bonds in the ninth. He earned a standing ovation when he walked off the mound after the seventh and eighth innings.

And the fans screamed when first baseman Eric Karros caught pinch-hitter Rikkert Faneyte’s foul popup, ending the game.

The Dodgers poured out onto the field to mob Nomo. Manager Tom Lasorda wrapped him in a bear hug. Pitching coach Dave Wallace kept slapping him on the back. And the crowd refused to leave until Nomo tipped his cap while walking off the field.

The secret is out.

Los Angeles is madly in love with Hideo Nomo.

They are hawking Nomo memorabilia in the Dodger stores, everything from Nomo T-shirts to Nomo hats to Nomo balls. They are doing a profile on him in People magazine. They opened a Japanese restaurant in his honor at Dodger Stadium.

Dodger President Peter O’Malley got into the act after the game, when he phoned downstairs and had Nomo autograph the lineup sheet.

While Nomo has emerged as a cult hero in Los Angeles, it appears that his appeal soon will be going nationwide. National League Manager Felipe Alou says that if he had to pick his All-Star team today, Nomo would be on it.

“It would be a great honor,” Nomo said, “but right now, I’m not going to worry about it. I just want to help this team win.”

Nomo is not only winning games, he’s embarrassing the opposition, yielding a 1.09 earned-run average in his last five starts, striking out 46 batters in 41 1/3 innings. All five of his victories are against teams he has faced for the second time.

“I’m really glad to have the complete game more than the shutout,” Nomo said, “just because I finally didn’t have to leave the mound. The fans were great all night long. It reminded me of my first year with the Kintetsu.”

Fans couldn’t care less that left fielder Billy Ashley went three for four with a three-run homer or that center fielder Roberto Kelly hit his first homer as a Dodger. They wanted to see strikeouts, and Nomo increased his league-leading total to 96.

Nomo, whose 37 strikeouts over the last three games are the most by a Dodger since Sandy Koufax struck out 38 from Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 1965, is creeping toward immortality.

Nomo, who struck out 10 of his 13 batters on his split-fingered fastball, is on a major league record-setting pace. He is averaging 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings, which is ahead of Nolan Ryan’s record of 11.48 strikeouts per nine innings in 1987. In fact, Ryan and Dwight Gooden are the only pitchers in history who have averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

“He’s not some gimmick or trick the Dodgers are trying to pull over on you,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said, “he’s the real thing.

“The guy comes across just as advertised, a strikeout pitcher. I don’t care if you come from Ethiopia or Japan, if you’re a strikeout pitcher over there, you’re going to be a strikeout pitcher over here.”

Perhaps most painful to the Giants is they had as good a chance as anyone to sign Nomo during the winter. They invited him in for a visit of Candlestick Park. Baker had dinner with Nomo and his agent. Yet, Baker can do nothing now but watch Nomo become an integral part of the Dodgers’ championship hopes.