Kuo Makes It His Night With the Dodgers needing a good start, he pitches six shutout innings and gets his first win in a 5-0 victory over the Mets. Lead increases to 11/2 games. By Steve Henson, Times Staff Writer September 9, 2006 NEW YORK — It's a longstanding Taiwanese custom: Successfully stand an egg on its end at exactly noon on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, and luck will come your way. The throng of Taiwanese Americans who descended upon Shea Stadium for Taiwanese Heritage Night watched Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, their countryman, successfully stand six eggs end to end on the scoreboard in his first major league start for his first victory. ADVERTISEMENT And luck certainly came the Dodgers' way Friday. They got the bounces, the calls and the ballgame, defeating the New York Mets, 5-0, rebounding impressively from their one-sided loss a day earlier and increasing their lead to 1 1/2 games over the San Diego Padres in the National League West. The Dodgers have been desperately seeking starters, so Kuo's effort vaulted him into the rotation. Manager Grady Little said the rookie left-hander would start Thursday at Chicago, enabling Greg Maddux to have an extra day of rest and start Friday in the opener of a four-game series against the Padres at Dodger Stadium. "He earned the right to pitch again," Little said of Kuo. Using a 95-mph fastball and a devastating slider, he gave up three harmless singles, struck out seven and benefited from dazzling double plays started by shortstop Rafael Furcal in the fourth and fifth innings. "I got ahead of hitters, that was a big thing," said Kuo, who threw 90 pitches. The biggest play might have come in the first inning. Kuo has battled control problems throughout his career, and he walked Jose Reyes to lead off the inning. Reyes moved to second on Paul Lo Duca's groundout but was thrown out trying to steal third even though replays indicated he slid under Wilson Betemit's tag. Carlos Beltran walked and Carlos Delgado ended the inning on a hard line drive to center field. Given a reprieve, Kuo settled down, retiring the next seven in a row. Brett Tomko, Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito each pitched an inning to complete the four-hit shutout. "I relaxed after [catcher] Russell Martin threw out Reyes," Kuo said. "I just went inning by inning, doing my best." His early jitters were understandable. He was only the third Taiwanese pitcher to make a major league start, and Taiwan Heritage Night included two Taiwanese women singing the national anthem and the first pitch being thrown out simultaneously by six Taiwanese American politicians. The Mets issued 75 media credentials to reporters from Asian news outlets. Turns out Kuo had no clue. "I didn't know anything about it," he said. "I guess I was too focused on getting ready for the game." Kuo is beginning to reach the potential the Dodgers have seen since signing him for $1.25 million in 1999. He twice had ligament replacement surgeries in his elbow and pitched only 42 innings in his first five years with the organization. Worried about his fragile arm, the Dodgers used him as a reliever until six weeks ago, when he moved into the starting rotation at triple-A Las Vegas as a way to build arm strength. He pitched so well that Little kept him in mind for a spot start when he was recalled the last week of August. Control has been Kuo's problem — he'd walked 31 in 35 1/3 major league innings coming into the game and was 0-4 this season. But after the first inning he got ahead of hitters with fastballs and put them away with his slider. "He's better as a starter because he can walk one or two and pitch his way out of it," Furcal said. "As a reliever coming into a tight situation, you can't afford walks." The early lead helped. The Dodgers scored twice in the first when Furcal and Kenny Lofton scored on a two-out throwing error by third baseman David Wright. Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra homered in the fifth, and the last run came an inning later on doubles by Martin and Lofton. That was enough offense for Kuo. The lift he gave the Dodgers was vital, unexpected and as improbable as standing an egg on its end at noon. "I had doubts when I was recovering from my injuries," he said. "I came back, and this is a good feeling." * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [email protected] -- 我的可愛女兒們 http://0rz.net/321AC --

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