Fletcher Shows He Belongs, 7-3 : Baseball: Former Dodger prospect helps Phillies make Belcher’s start his shortest ever.

The reason Darrin Fletcher is no longer a Dodger was made clear again Sunday when Mike Scioscia played in his 1,199th game as a Dodger catcher, tying a Los Angeles record.

Fletcher, then, could not have picked a better day to make it clear he can play somewhere .

In his third game as a Philadelphia Phillie catcher, Fletcher turned heads both on the field and in the Dodgers’ front office with two hits and two runs batted in as the Phillies scored a 7-3 victory before 33,208 at Dodger Stadium.

Apparently, the Dodgers’ player development system still can sign and produce major league talent.

“I’ve got nothing against the Dodgers, because I’m not the first guy to get held back by Mike Scioscia, and I bet I’m not the last,� said Fletcher, a former top Dodger prospect who was traded to the Phillies last fall for Dennis Cook.

“He’s been holding guys back throughout the 1980s, and probably throughout the 1990s.

“Looks to me like that guy is going to go on forever.�

Scioscia heard the compliment and shrugged.

“That won’t happen if I keep playing like I did today,� he said.

Actually, Scioscia, who will probably break John Roseboro’s Los Angeles Dodger record for games caught today and needs 19 games to tie the all-time franchise record held by Roseboro, had one of the better games among the Dodgers--even though he committed an error and the Phillies stole two bases.

The Dodgers’ hopes of extending their winning streak to a season-high four games essentially ended in the first inning after six of the first seven Phillies singled against Tim Belcher.

Belcher left after getting only two outs--it was his shortest start ever--and the blame was shifted to a shoddy offense.

Against the Phillies’ Jose DeJesus, who walked eight in five innings, the offense loaded the bases on walks in two of the first five innings, but could score only two runs.

A couple of pitchers later, the Dodgers’ last hopes ended when Lenny Harris took a called third strike with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning.

In all, 13 Dodgers reached base--but they could only score on two groundouts and a run-scoring single by Darryl Strawberry. Their total of four hits equals a season low.

“Hopefully, 28 starts from now, this will be a long-lost memory,� Belcher said. “Of course, a couple of more starts like this and I won’t make it out there 28 more times.�

Belcher has failed to make it past the fourth inning in three consecutive starts, all defeats. However, in his previous two starts and defeats, he was burdened by Dodger errors that accounted for five unearned runs. On Sunday, he was the only one to blame.

After Von Hayes and Wally Backman began the game with singles, Ricky Jordan hit a sacrifice fly. The next four Phillies hit singles, capped by Fletcher’s run-scoring grounder down the first base line to finish Belcher, whose earned-run average increased from 2.23 to 3.41.

Fletcher, meanwhile, was only getting started. In the fifth inning, with the Phillies leading, 6-1, he doubled off the right-field wall against Mike Hartley to end the Phillies’ scoring.

Given a chance with the Phillies after the auto accident involving outfielder Lenny Dykstra and starting catcher Darren Daulton, Fletcher was recalled from triple A last week and has since batted .308, including two doubles and three RBIs this weekend against the Dodgers.

A former sixth-round pick by the Dodgers in the 1987 draft, Fletcher is a left-handed hitter, as is Scioscia. This hurt his chances of becoming a Dodger backup.

“I really don’t know how much of a shot he will get with the Phillies because of Daulton (another left-handed hitter), but in the little chance he has gotten, he has proved he can play in the major leagues,� Scioscia said of Fletcher.

“He’s not an impact player, but you watch him every day and you can’t help but be impressed.�

Said Fletcher: “I was lucky I even appeared in a game with the Dodgers because their minor league system is so stacked. And it wasn’t just me who was stuck. A lot of guys are stuck in the Dodgers’ system. I was just thankful I was one of the guys who was able to get out.�

Dodger Attendance

Sunday: 33,208

1991 (13 dates): 554,559

1990 (13 dates): 486,241

Increase: 68,318

Average: 42,658