BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Carter Won’t Be Worried This Winter

Gary Carter, only two runs short of 1,000 after getting his 2,000th hit earlier this season, could be in the final weeks of his career.

“When I get home this winter and list the advantages and disadvantages of playing another year, I don’t know what I’ll think,” said Carter, 37. “I’ve got other options for me outside of baseball (broadcasting) which I must consider.

“I don’t know what will happen, but I do know that right now, I’m really at peace with the way everything has turned out so far this season. . . . This winter I will not be calling teams asking for work like I did the last two winters.”

Carter will become only the fourth catcher in history to have 1,000 runs scored, 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 1,000 runs batted in. The others are Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Yogi Berra.

Carter’s performance in the next six weeks will probably determine whether the Dodgers offer the potential free agent another contract. He is batting .264 in his 44 starts.

The flu that bothered Mike Scioscia for a couple of weeks appears to be spreading through the Dodger clubhouse. “The only way to keep a virus like this from spreading is to put everybody in a bubble,” said Charlie Strasser, assistant trainer.

Chris Gwynn, with 12 pinch-hits, is three shy of the Los Angeles Dodger record shared by Manny Mota (1974, 1979) and Ed Goodson (1976). The Dodger record is Sid Gautreaux’s 16 in 1936. . . . The second-longest hitting streak by a Dodger belongs to pitcher Kevin Gross, who has hits in four consecutive games, going five for six during that span. Gross is batting .353. . . . Jim Gott’s four innings last weekend against Houston was his longest stint in more than four years. . . . Probable pitchers for the remainder of the series: the Dodgers’ Mike Morgan (10-7) vs. the Cardinals’ Omar Olivares (6-4) today at 5 p.m. PDT; Tim Belcher (8-7) vs. Rheal Cormier (1-1) Sunday at 11 a.m.