Belcher Has Cubs on a String With Second Shutout

CHICAGO â€”  The way he pitched last fall, it shouldn’t have come as a shock that Tim Belcher would already have back-to-back shutouts this April. His earned-run average from Sept. 1 until the end of the regular season was 1.06, and he also won two games in the playoffs and one in the World Series.

Of course, Belcher could have pitched in a Day-Glo uniform and done backflips off the mound last fall and scarcely have been noticed.

“I was on this kind of roll last September and got overshadowed by a guy named Hershiser,� said Belcher, who ran his own modest streak of scoreless innings to 19 by shutting out the Chicago Cubs, 4-0, Tuesday night in the Dodgers’ first-ever appearance under the lights of Wrigley Field.

“It was like, ‘Who cares,’ because Orel was throwing a shutout every time,� Belcher said, “which was fine with me from a recollection purpose, because I was working on a strong foundation to build upon.�

Belcher, who shut out Cincinnati on four hits in his last start, stopped the Cubs on five hits Tuesday night to become the first National League pitcher to record two shutouts in 1989. He also doubled home two runs, after John Shelby’s RBI double and first extra-base hit of the season, in the Dodgers’ three-run second inning.

The Dodgers added a run in the ninth on a walk, single and sacrifice fly by Eddie Murray, who also contributed two doubles and a single to help send the Cubs to their seventh loss in eight games.

“I know it’s somewhat of a laughing matter when a pitcher does so well at the plate,� Belcher said, “but in a game like that those were two big RBIs.�

Indeed, Belcher, who raised his average to a lusty .273, now has four RBIs, which gives him more RBIs than regulars Shelby, Willie Randolph and Alfredo Griffin. And with Kirk Gibson having to pull himself from the lineup after jogging halfway down the first-base line in the fifth inning Tuesday, the Dodgers aren’t exactly overloaded with run-producers at the moment.

Gibson’s left hamstring, which he bruised last September, continues to be a problem. It tightened on him Tuesday, and trainer Bill Buhler maintains that the left-fielder is aggravating the scar tissue in the muscle.

“I’m concerned about it,� said Gibson, who beat out a bunt single in his second at-bat, sandwiched between a disputed strikeout and a roller to second base.

“I made a decision not to play on it. To have a serious injury there might be a permanent thing, as far as my running is concerned. I’ll have to try to strengthen it and hope it’ll go away.�

Going on the disabled list is an option, but one that Gibson so far has been unwilling to exercise.

“I’m frustrated and confused as to what to do about it,� he said.

For now, Manager Tom Lasorda is satisfied with the status quo, even if that means a sub-par Gibson.

“We’re doing everything we can to get him better,� Lasorda said. “We talked about it, but I’d rather have him the way he is than for him to go on the disabled list. He means so much to this ballclub.�

With runs at a premium, Belcher’s meaning to this club cannot be overstated at this time.

“Sooner or later I expected him to do this,� said catcher Rick Dempsey, who watched from the dugout as his closest friend on the team, as well as his No. 1 student, breezed through the Cubs order, striking out seven and walking one.

“He can adapt to anything, that guy,� Dempsey said. “The difference is his control. He’s got control of himself now, something he never had in the minor leagues.

“I don’t think he proved to himself until last year that he could be consistently in control. And now he wants to be a damn pinch hitter, too. He wants that silver bat.

“He takes more extra hitting than I do--or at least he gets more.�

Belcher, who lasted only 2 1/3 innings against the Reds on opening day, has all but abandoned his curve ball to rely on his power pitches, the fastball and slider.

“He’s just getting better,� Dempsey said. “He learns things and stays within himself. He’s a very headstrong young player. He listens to good advice, takes it well, and does something about it.

“He’s not a wild and crazy kind of pitcher. He’s very serious about his job.�

The only Cub with any idea of how to handle Belcher Tuesday was first baseman Mark Grace, who had three of the Cubs’ five hits, including a two-out double in the ninth. But Belcher pitched a complete game for the third consecutive time by retiring Vance Law on a called third strike to end it.

When a teammate throws six plus shutouts in a row, as Hershiser did in 1988, do two consecutive shutouts constitute a streak?

“It constitutes a streak for me,� Belcher said. “Definitely. But that’s the furthest thing from my mind.�

If the Dodgers sensed anything historic about their first night-time foray on Wrigley Field, it wasn’t the first thing on their minds, either. With the wind blowing in and the temperature dropping steadily from a game time reading of 59 degrees, it was typical late-April Chicago.

Mike Marshall, Murray and--yes, even Randolph--watched potential home runs die prematurely.

“I thought I hit one real good,� said Marshall, who started the second-inning rally with a single and took an extra base when right fielder Andre Dawson booted it.

“But Godzilla couldn’t have hit one out tonight.�

Imagine, then, the possibilities for the 5-foot-11 Randolph, who has 48 home runs in 13 big-league seasons and was sure he had a shot at National League homer No. 1 with a drive to left in the ninth inning.

“I had looked up at the flags and I knew they were blowing in,� Randolph said, “but my first reaction was, ‘Oh, I got it.’ But then I watched the reaction of the left fielder and knew different.

“I hit it good, but a little man hit it.�