Finally, Good News for Shuey

Reliever Paul Shuey found himself in an all-too-familiar position Wednesday night, a spot he has been in almost from the time he first buttoned up a Dodger jersey after his July 28 trade from Cleveland: Trouble.

The bases were loaded with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and Shuey, who had a 10.80 earned-run average, two losses and two blown saves in his first nine appearances as a Dodger, was clinging to a one-run lead.

Disaster, however, took the night off.

Shortstop Alex Cora turned Jose Macias’ grounder up the middle into an inning-ending double play, and the Dodgers went on to defeat the Montreal Expos, 5-2, before 13,416 in Olympic Stadium.

Shuey was so excited he thrust his arms into the air, and two innings later, closer Eric Gagne, rebounding from the game-winning homer he gave up to Troy O’Leary on Tuesday, punctuated his 40th save with a pump of the fist as the Dodgers moved a half-game ahead of San Francisco in the National League wild-card race.

Cora added three hits, including an RBI single that gave the Dodgers a key insurance run in the eighth, and Shawn Green smacked his 35th homer in the third to back the superb pitching of Kazuhisa Ishii, who gave up two runs--both unearned--and three hits in six innings to win his first game since July 14.

Gagne became only the third reliever in Dodger history to join the 40-save club, joining Todd Worrell, who had 44 saves in 1996, and Jeff Shaw, who had 43 saves in 2001.

“I wanted to get out there today,” said Gagne, a Montreal native who blew a save for only the third time Tuesday night. “It’s good to come out the next day and get all that negative stuff out of my mind.”

Shuey probably needs more than a day to get all the negative stuff out of his mind, but Wednesday night was a huge step in the purging process.

Ishii retired 11 in a row before he tired in the seventh, walking Orlando Cabrera and Andres Galarraga to open the inning. With the Dodgers leading, 3-2, Manager Jim Tracy summoned Shuey.

Michael Barrett sent a sacrifice bunt attempt toward the mound. Shuey fielded the ball, spun quickly and fired to third in time to force Cabrera for the second out.

“That’s the first time I’ve thrown a guy out at third, ever,” said Shuey, an eight-year veteran. “That was awesome.”

His walk to pinch-hitter Brad Wilkerson to load the bases was not. But Cora fielded Macias’ grounder near second base, stepped on the bag and fired to first in time to nail Macias and end the inning, sending Shuey’s glove and fist skyward.

“I was like, ‘Can you believe it?’ ” Shuey said. “I felt like I’ve gone out there, made good pitches, and things just weren’t happening for me. But I made a good pitch [Wednesday night] and got a good result. The big key is to not get too high off one game. Try to take some confidence from it and do it again tomorrow.”

Shuey’s struggles weighed heavily on the right-hander, who was having trouble sleeping after his recent rocky outings. He was acquired to bolster the bullpen, but since the trade, Dodger relievers combined for a 4-4 record and 5.68 ERA in 14 games.

“This was huge,” Shuey said. “It took a little bit of weight off a lot of shoulders.”

Ishii (13-7) had similar feelings Wednesday night. He was rocked for 17 earned runs and 15 hits, including five home runs, in 12 2/3 innings of his last three starts and faced a possible demotion to the bullpen or even to the minor leagues when Kevin Brown comes off the disabled list.

But the left-hander responded with his best game in almost a month.

After giving up two unearned runs in the first inning, Ishii blanked the Expos on one hit over the next five innings. He struck out four and walked four.

“Mentally, I was in control of the game,” Ishii said through an interpreter. “I only thought about today’s game, and I didn’t want to think about anything else.”

Ishii was backed by an offense that banged out 14 hits, including two each by Dave Roberts, Marquis Grissom, Adrian Beltre and Paul Lo Duca.

“It was nice to send our closer out there with some breathing room,” Tracy said.

For Shuey, it was nice to be able to breathe again.