Dodgers See Red in Loss : Baseball: They lose again to Cincinnati, 10-6, and learn that Belcher has an inflamed pitching shoulder.

About the time Norm Charlton was rocking Riverfront Stadium in a fourth-and-goal collision with catcher Mike Scioscia Sunday, it became official.

The Dodger season has become one big pain.

In the first Sunday night home game in their history, the Reds beat the Dodgers, 10-6, giving them two consecutive victories in the weekend series by a total score of 21-12.

And that wasn’t all. Before the game, pitcher Tim Belcher acknowledged what teammates had suspected: He is suffering from an inflamed right shoulder.

Belcher, a projected top Dodger starting pitcher who has struggled with a 4.32 earned-run average, emphasized that he will not stop pitching.

But he has been treating the shoulder with ultrasound and stimulation therapy and, if it doesn’t improve, he will agree to take a cortisone shot.

“It’s nothing that I can’t pitch with, there’s no real pain when I pitch, just discomfort,” said Belcher, who has been examined by Dr. Frank Jobe. “But it has not felt right all year. Right now, overall, I feel like a train wreck.”

Belcher gave up seven runs in four innings Saturday in an 11-6 loss, dropping his record to 5-5. It was the fifth time in his last six starts that the Dodgers have lost.

“I just have not felt right all year,” Belcher said. “It’s hard to put a finger on it . . . but it’s like I haven’t been able to get loose. Not once have I have felt like I’ve had my great stuff. If it doesn’t get any better, a shot is the next step.”

Belcher said that he might have suffered from throwing too many pitches in his first game of the season, a three-hit shutout in San Diego after only three weeks of spring training.

“I would do the same thing again because I was trying to win a game . . . but I believe that game was the problem,” Belcher said. “I should not have done that on just three weeks of spring training.

“You know, the owners can take that lockout and shove it. It was the worst mistake the owners have ever made in their lives.”

By winning two of three here, the National League West leaders have defeated the Dodgers five times in seven games this season. The Dodgers blew a chance to move within a half game of second place and instead remain in fourth, 10 1/2 games out of first.

But the Dodgers can take comfort in the knowledge that their next series is against the National League’s worst team. The team traveled late Sunday to Atlanta, where they will begin a three-game series today with Ramon Martinez attempting to duplicate his 18-strikeout feat against the Braves the last time they met.

The Dodgers happily left Cincinnati, where they weren’t merely beaten, they were stunned. The Dodgers led six times during the weekend. The Reds came back and regained the lead five times.

“It seemed like leads don’t matter to them,” said Chris Gwynn, who had his second home run and three runs batted in while starting in place of Kal Daniels. “It was like, we get a lead and--boom--they are right back at us. Like they never even worried.”

A sixth-inning homer by Gwynn scored Stan Javier, who had doubled, and gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. It was one of Javier’s three hits.

But with one out and a runner on first in the sixth, the Reds’ Mariano Duncan lofted a single to center against starter Fernando Valenzuela. Luis Quinones blooped a run-scoring double to left and Joe Oliver blooped a run-scoring single to center. Barry Larkin blooped a run-scoring single that landed in shallow right field.

“Larkin couldn’t have thrown that ball any better,” Gwynn said.

Chris Sabo then made Valenzuela pay for giving up the bloop hits by hitting a hanging curveball for a three-run home run. Valenzuela, 5-6 with a 4.09 ERA, has won once in his last six starts.

But when the Reds finished with him, they still weren’t finished. They had one final point to make.

In the seventh inning, on a double by Oliver, reliever Charlton ran through a signal to stop from third base coach Sam Perlozzo and headed toward Scioscia at the plate. The relay from Alfredo Griffin arrived a split second late, and Charlton bowled over Scioscia to score the final run.

“Just an aggressive play,” Charlton said, smiling.

Teammate Todd Benzinger elaborated.

“Scioscia did a great job of blocking the plate in that deciding play on Friday, and it cost us a game, so we decided it would not happen again,” Benzinger said. “We were lucky we could get payback so soon.”

Said Scioscia: “They didn’t make any point with me. I’ve been hit before.”

For the Dodgers, the hits just keep coming.

Dodger Notes

A highly placed source in the Detroit Tiger organization confirmed reports that the Dodgers’ Kirk Gibson has requested a trade. “He wants them to move him, and they’ve offered him to us,” said the source, who declined to be identified. In interviews Sunday, neither Gibson nor Dodger Vice President Fred Claire would deny the report about Gibson’s request. “What I choose to say behind closed doors is my business, and when I choose to share it, I will share it,” an angry Gibson said. “I don’t have to respond to idiotic reports. I’m not going to be forced to make a statement just because somebody writes an article. If somebody alleges something about you, do you have to respond?”

Said Claire: “I am not going to address this situation. On any club you have players who have feelings about situations, and they have to talk their way through them. But I am not going to discuss this one.” Claire acknowledged that reports of Gibson’s trade request could lower his value, because teams know the Dodgers want to move him. “That could have an impact, yes,” Claire said.

Gibson took batting practice with the active roster Sunday for the first time since suffering a strained right groin a week ago. He is improving daily. . . . Kal Daniels, suffering from back spasms, was examined by a local doctor Saturday night and ordered to rest for a couple of days. He missed his second consecutive start Sunday, his 13th missed start in 69 games this season.

Stan Javier extended his hitting streak to 13 games Sunday, during which he has 21 hits in 44 at-bats for a .477 average (.360 overall). Javier has hits in 14 of 17 starts, but acknowledged that he is helped by the fact that most National League pitchers have not seen him. “It is harder to be a new pitcher in a league, because you have to learn the hitters,” Javier said. “For me, I figure, they have to throw me strikes, no matter who it is. And I can hit strikes.” Javier is already one of the most disciplined hitters on the team, with 12 walks and only 13 strikeouts.