Dodger Victory Not All Good News : Baseball: Strawberry, his shoulder still hurting, rests during 4-1 victory over Reds and will take a week off.

Moments after the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Sunday at Dodger Stadium, the words cut through the clubhouse laughter like a tasteless joke.

“This is not a good sight,” Darryl Strawberry said quietly. “This is not very fun.”

He was talking about the sore shoulder he has decided to rest for a week after undergoing a pregame examination by Frank Jobe.

Strawberry underwent an additional test Sunday night at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, and the results showed no further damage to the shoulder he sprained May 15 when he ran into the right-field wall while making a catch against the Montreal Expos.

“We would just like for him to rest the shoulder as much as he can,” Jobe said. “Maybe even not throw a ball for a couple of days.”

He had started 13 of 16 games since the injury entering Sunday, but Jobe did not think Strawberry had aggravated it further.

“He has not been doing any damage while playing with it but, because he is still feeling discomfort, he is not doing himself any good, either,” Jobe said. “With this sort of sprain, we feel resting it should help.”

Strawberry, who noted the shoulder hurts when he throws and when he swings at outside pitches, said, “I really don’t have any choice but to sit out. My performance is not what it should be because I am always in pain.

“I want to be able to get four quality at-bats every game instead of just one or two.”

Strawberry noted that when he took called third strikes twice in the final innings of the Dodgers’ 6-5 defeat Saturday, the shoulder was on his mind.

“Some high and outside pitches, I just can’t get to them without pain,” he said. “If I felt good (Saturday), things might have been different . . . although that last strike was still a bad call.”

The Dodgers may not miss Strawberry’s .218 average and team-leading 47 strikeouts. But he also has a team-leading seven homers and ranked among league leaders in May with six homers and 17 runs-batted-in.

After Strawberry’s examination Sunday, he and Jobe met with Manager Tom Lasorda. Then Strawberry was removed from the lineup at the last minute along with Eddie Murray, who asked for a rest after starting 39 consecutive games.

With 43,683 watching, this didn’t seem to bother starting pitcher Tim Belcher, who allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings for his third consecutive victory. Not that he wasn’t taken by surprise.

“I’m running to the mound to start the game and I see Gary Carter running past me to play first base and I yell, ‘Hey, where do you think you’re going?’ ” Belcher said. “Usually before a game I’m too busy studying the other team’s lineups to study my own.

“But I’m telling you, on this team, you replace major league players with major league players.”

Chris Gwynn, who will probably platoon with Stan Javier in right field while Strawberry is out, had two hits in Strawberry’s place.

Carter, who has become a valued substitute, had a hit and scored a run while replacing Murray.

The Dodgers are 6-3 in games that Carter has started, and 5-1 in games started by Gwynn.

“It’s outstanding when you can have that kind of flexibility,” Carter said. “I think I found about about 10 minutes before the game that I was playing, when Bill Russell (Dodger coach) came into the food room and said, ‘Where’s my first baseman?’ But, hey, that’s fine. I’m always ready.”

The victory gave the first-place Dodgers a split of the four-game series with Cincinnati and a 4-3 record on the home stand. It also increased their lead over the losing Atlanta Braves to 1 1/2 games while the defending World Series champion Reds fall to 3 1/2 games behind.

The Reds vowed, however, that they would be playing more big series with the Dodgers before the end of the season. The Dodger have won four of the first seven meetings in this 18-game season series between the two teams.

“Nobody is going to run away with it,” groused Cincinnati’s Paul O’Neill. But if Sunday is any indication, the Reds need to be less generous in the field if they are going to stay close.

The Dodgers scored their first run, in the first inning, after a wild pitch by Reds starter Jack Armstrong. Both of their next two runs, in the third inning, were unearned, coming after a low throw to first by catcher Jeff Reed and a ground ball that went between the legs of second baseman Luis Quinones.

This made it easier for Belcher, who finally left the game in the ninth inning after an infield single, an error by second baseman Lenny Harris and two more singles placed runners on first and second with two out.

Tim Crews, subbing as the stopper for the weary Jay Howell, replaced Belcher and induced Todd Benzinger into a grounder to Harris on the third pitch to end the game. Crews picked up his second save. Belcher, improving to 6-4, has allowed three earned runs in his last 23 1/3 innings.

Dodger Attendance

Sunday 43,683

1991 after 26 dates 1,058,843

1990 after 26 dates 955,446

Increase 103,397

Average 40,724