Belcher Gets Cushion He Needs From Dodgers, 7-6

Fans of the Dodgers, who will never be accused of wearing out their welcome, might have been joined in their retreat from Dodger Stadium Thursday night by the team’s starting left fielder, Mickey Hatcher.

Hatcher’s work was finished by the third inning, when he was replaced for defensive purposes by rookie Chris Gwynn.

By then, the heretofore light-hitting Dodgers were well on their way to a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, having scored seven runs on six hits while sending 12 batters to the plate in the first inning.

Or so it appeared.

Eddie Murray, whose three-run double was the inning’s highlight, was gone by the fifth inning, replaced by Franklin Stubbs.

But the seven-run burst, which fell far short of a Dodger record, provided barely enough cushion for struggling Dodger starter Tim Belcher, who squandered most of the lead away but wound up with a 7-6 victory anyway, thanks in large part to reliever Jay Howell.

Howell got the last five outs for his eighth save as Belcher picked up his fourth win.

“It was nice,” Belcher said of the big lead. “Any pitcher would say that. But it can be a double-edged sword. Mentally, I did things I shouldn’t do. I must have shook off 50 (pitches). I didn’t call a good game.

“You want to challenge people (when you get in that position). You can’t do that. I made it close.”

Don Carman certainly didn’t.

The Dodgers wasted no time in adding to the misery of the Phillies’ starter, who lost for the seventh time in eight starts since April 12, when he beat the Montreal Expos for his only victory.

Willie Randolph singled to center, Hatcher slapped a hit-and-run single through the right side and Kirk Gibson walked, loading the bases for Murray, whose line drive kicked up chalk along the left-field foul line and skipped into the corner, allowing all three runners to score. That alone qualified as a major uprising for the Dodgers, whose batting average of .224 is the worst in the National League.

But they were hardly finished.

One out later, Jeff Hamilton walked, Rick Dempsey sent a one-hop hit-and-run single through the left side to score Murray. Then Mariano Duncan, who was one for 25 before getting two hits Wednesday night in a 4-2 Dodger victory, singled to center to score Hamilton and make it 5-0.

Manager Nick Levya of the Phillies had seen enough of Carman.

In came reliever Mike Maddux, who, after retiring Belcher on a sacrifice, slipped and fell while making a pitch to Randolph.

The balk scored Dempsey and provided comic relief for the crowd of 27,781, which yelled for more after Hatcher singled again to make it 7-0.

It looked like they might get it, too, when a wild pitch put runners at second and third, but Gibson grounded out to end the inning.

The Dodgers hadn’t scored as many runs in an inning since Sept. 21, 1985, but it was not a record.

On May 21, 1952, the Brooklyn Dodgers established a National League record when they scored 15 runs in the first inning of a 19-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. And, on more than one occasion since they moved to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have scored 10 runs in an inning, the last time in 1977.

Perhaps exhausted by their latest outburst, the Dodgers managed only two more hits the rest of the way, none between the first and seventh innings. Meantime, the Phillies chipped away.

“The whole key is maintaining an unpredictable pattern and I got very predictable after the first inning,” Belcher said.

Darren Daulton lifted a two-run home run into the right-field pavilion in the fourth, and Von Hayes contributed a run-scoring single in the fifth.

An error by Randolph moments later on Mike Schmidt’s grounder was noteworthy only because it was the first of the season by the Dodger second baseman.

Hayes lined a single to center, his third hit, to start the eighth, after which Schmidt bunted safely.

Belcher struck out pinch-hitter Mark Ryal, but when Juan Samuel followed with a run-scoring single, the Dodger starter was finished.

His replacement, Ray Searage, didn’t provide much relief, walking pinch-hitter Ricky Jordan to load the bases and giving up a two-run single to Dickie Thon, who lined a pitch into left field.

It was left to Howell to end the threat, which he did by striking out Tommy Herr and retiring Steve Jeltz on a fly ball to center.

Howell worked a 1-2-3 ninth.

Said Tom Lasorda: “Thank goodness we got the seven runs.”

Dodger Notes

John Shelby, who also was benched Wednesday night, was not in the starting lineup for only the third time this season. The switch-hitting center fielder is hitting .171 and leads the Dodgers with 39 strikeouts, an average of more than one strikeout every four at-bats. . . . The Dodgers signed pitcher Pete Falcone, 35, to a minor league contract. The left-hander, who last pitched in the majors in 1984, is 70-90 with a 4.07 earned-run average and seven career saves. He was assigned to Albuquerque.

LANGSTON TRADED

Seattle trades pitcher Mark Langston to Montreal for three players. Page 6.