Dodger Belcher Gets Sixth Shutout

It’s late in the season. As the leaves start to fall, so do the enemy batters. Inning after inning.

The Dodger right-hander has suddenly become unbeatable. Shutouts have become the norm. A scoreless-inning streak mounts.

Orel Hershiser, 1988?

No, Tim Belcher, 1989.

Admittedly, Belcher is about as far from Hershiser’s record 59 scoreless innings as his team is from the division-leading San Francisco Giants.

But on the Dodgers this season, you take your thrills where you can get them.

Belcher threw another shutout Friday night, beating the Montreal Expos, 2-0, before 24,844 fans at Dodger Stadium.

It was his second shutout in a row, his major leagues-leading sixth of the season, and gave him 24 straight scoreless innings.

But he was quick to discourage any talk of a record streak.

“Once I get 4 1/2 or five shutouts in a row,” he said, “then you can ask me about a scoreless-inning streak.”

Belcher’s reluctance to focus attention on himself is understandable. For one thing, Friday’s victory improved his record to only 11-12.

For another, it’s hard to take too much delight out of a season when your club is 13 games behind, as are the Dodgers.

But others had no trouble talking about Belcher.

“This is as well as I’ve seen him pitch,” Manager Tom Lasorda, said. “As I said two years ago, once he gets the experience and the know-how, he’s going to be one of the premier pitchers in the league.”

Belcher is coming off a week during which he was 2-0 with an 0.53 earned-run average.

His last outing was a seven-hit shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies. This time, he pitched a five-hitter and was in relatively little trouble in beating Mark Langston (10-6).

Belcher is 2-0 against the Expos this season, having beaten Langston both times. The Expos have not scored against the Dodgers in their last 33 innings.

Belcher walked Hubie Brooks and Tim Wallach with two out in the first inning but then struck out Andres Galarraga.

“The first inning has been a struggle for me lately,” Belcher said. “I didn’t have a good fastball early tonight and I was behind the hitters.”

Belcher gave up singles to Tim Raines and Dave Martinez in the third but got out of that by throwing a double-play ball to Brooks.

The only other Montreal threat came in the seventh. Martinez got aboard on a two-base throwing error by Alfredo Griffin. He then stole third.

But there he stayed as Belcher got both Brooks and Wallach to ground out to Jeff Hamilton at third.

As for the offense, the Dodgers turned to Mickey Hatcher to ignite them.

When last sighted, Hatcher was sitting at home plate with his head buried in his hands.

That was Wednesday night, when he ran through a stop sign from third-base coach Joe Amalfitano and was thrown out trying to score from first on a double in a 9-3 loss to the New York Mets.

Hatcher later told reporters he was trying to make things happen, that “nobody is having any fun around here anymore.”

When you’re effectively out of the pennant race before Labor Day and the customary big crowds have gone elsewhere for the long holiday weekend, who can have fun?

Hatcher found a way Friday night, along with the chance to make amends for Wednesday.

It was the fourth inning, a scoreless tie, the Dodgers struggling once again at the plate. In seven of their previous 11 games, they had scored two or fewer runs.

Eddie Murray had singled with one out in the fourth and stolen second. With two out, Hatcher singled to right field to give Belcher all the runs he would need to end a three-game Dodger losing streak.

The Dodgers scored again in the sixth but could have had more.

Griffin opened with a line drive to right field, but he tried to get a double out of it. Instead, he wound up with nothing when Hubie Brooks fired a strike to nail him st second base.

Randolph followed with a walk and a stolen base. He then scored on a double to right by Mike Marshall.

The Dodgers had one more big opportunity in the seventh. With one out, Rick Dempsey and Belcher walked. Griffin, having a long night, struck out on a pitch over his head. But a wild pitch advanced the runners, and Randolph walked to load the bases.

That brought up Murray, but he grounded to third, Wallach making a diving stop, to end the threat.

As it turned out, it didn’t matter. With Belcher these days, a run or two have proven to be quite enough.

Dodger Notes

Back to the Future: While the Dodgers struggle at the big-league level, their farm clubs continue to flourish. For the second straight year, five of them (Albuquerque, triple-A; Bakersfield, A; and Great Falls, Kissimmee and Santo Domingo, all rookie league) are in postseason playoffs. . . . The Dodgers’ Mike Marshall had a chance to make the catch of the year Friday night when a gray cat wandered into right field. Instead, with the crowd cheering him on, Marshall pointed toward the bullpen and the cat meekly responded by scurrying through the open gate to safety, thus ending the short paws in the game. . . . Dodger President Peter O’Malley is in Moscow for the opening of the first baseball stadium in the Soviet Union, Matsumae Baseball Stadium at Moscow University. Teams from the host country, the United States, China and Japan will play a series of games. Representing this country is a squad from the University of Miami. . . . The Dodgers were 13-14 in August. . . . The Dodger-Expo series continues tonight at 7 with Bryn Smith (10-8) opposing Fernando Valenzuela (9-12).