Dodgers Displaying Middle Class

They don’t receive the rock music, the MTV-like video and the standing ovation that accompany Eric Gagne’s entrances to the Dodger Stadium field.

Most fans probably see it as an opportune time to grab a hot dog when the middle relievers enter the game to the nondescript announcement, “Now pitching for the Dodgers ... “

Wilson Alvarez hears the discrepancy pointed out to him and he shrugs.

“I never thought about it,” he said.

He’s just happy to be in the big leagues again. And the Dodgers are lucky to have such an incredibly efficient crew of middle relievers -- Alvarez, Paul Shuey, Paul Quantrill, Guillermo Mota, etc. -- to bring them into first place in the National League West.

Gagne’s goateed mug is all over Dodger Stadium, on T-shirts, caps and towels. So how about some love for the middle relievers?

Guess a few words from Manager Jim Tracy will have to do.

“They’ve just been remarkable,” Tracy said.

It has been more than a month since the Dodgers fell behind in a game with one of their relievers on the mound. Four weeks’ worth of shutdowns from the bullpen is the type of stuff that brings championship rings to an organization. And it’s close to the standard the Dodgers will need to maintain simply to have a chance at the postseason.

Don’t count on many Dodger comebacks (unless the Angels leave some Rally Monkeys behind after they finish their three-game set today). The Dodgers are 3-25 when they trail after seven innings. It’s a stretch to expect runs from the Dodger lineup at any time, let alone late-game situations.

So they count on their starters to put the opposition in check, the middle relievers to keep them there, then Gagne.

“They’ve got to get it to me,” Gagne said. “At the end of the game it’s all great, but it’s only one inning. They’ve got to play eight innings to get me the lead. That’s what they’ve been doing all year.”

Saturday it was Alvarez’s turn. The Dodgers held a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning when he replaced starter Andy Ashby with one out, runners on first and second and the Angels’ best hitter, Garret Anderson, at the plate.

Anderson flied to center, then Alvarez hit Brad Fullmer on the helmet to load the bases. The tension mounted as he built a 3-2 count on Scott Spiezio before Alvarez struck out Spiezio to end the inning. Alvarez gave up only one harmless hit over the next two innings before it was Gagne time.

Because Alvarez was so good, the Dodgers could afford a shaky outing by Gagne, who gave up three hits and a run before setting the Angels down for his 29th save and a 4-2 Dodger victory.

Middle reliever is one of those career paths that no one seeks, they just find themselves there. Kind of like a highway toll collector.

Only July 12, it will be 14 years since Alvarez made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers. As recently as six years ago he was such a prized member of the White Sox’ starting rotation that when he was traded to San Francisco in Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s infamous “White Flag” deal, it caused an uproar in Chicago.

But in the years after the trade he never posted a winning record or produced an earned-run average below 4.22 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

He thought about retiring as he battled injuries for the last couple of years. But someone, somewhere will always have a job for a left-handed pitcher. He said he had interest from the Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals, but he signed a free-agent contract with the Dodgers because he thought they gave him a better opportunity for a championship.

“I’m in the point of my career, I just want to win,” Alvarez said. “I want to get a ring. It’s getting time for me to get into the playoffs.”

So he didn’t bail out when the Dodgers sent him to the minors at the start of the season. He was ready when they called him up on June 7, and he pitched five innings in relief of Ashby that day. A week later, he threw four shutout innings at Cleveland for a hard-earned save.

“This organization, they give me the chance to do something,” Alvarez said. “The only way that I got that chance is to work hard and show that I still can pitch. That’s what I’m doing. Just working and working and waiting for my chance.”

For some people, the second chance comes in the same place. Shuey was a disappointment after Dan Evans traded prospect Ricardo Rodriguez and two other pitchers to the Cleveland Indians for him last summer. Pitching in the National League for the first time in his career, Shuey gave up 15 earned runs in 30 2/3 innings, a 4.40 ERA.

But this year Shuey has given up only 13 hits and two earned runs in 26 1/3 innings for a David Eckstein-sized 0.68 ERA.

“Last year, it was me trying to figure out what to do,” Shuey told The Times’ Mike DiGiovanna. “I didn’t have a plan for guys. But by the end of last season, I saw the batters a couple times around, my family got settled, I felt more comfortable.”

Everyone else looks just as comfortable. Tom Martin has given up earned runs in only three of his 31 appearances; Quantrill in four of 35.

Those are the numbers behind Gagne’s 29 saves, a major reason the Dodgers are 34-1 when they lead after seven innings.

Expect the bullpen to come into play even more now that Ashby has replaced the injured Darren Dreifort in the rotation. Ashby doesn’t last too many innings, bringing the relievers into action earlier. That’s where having a guy like Alvarez, who’s used to throwing starter-type innings, comes in handy. But Tracy is feeling confident that he can also use Alvarez and Martin to face left-handed batters in special situations.

“It just is another weapon for us,” Tracy said. “It makes us a little bit better in our bullpen -- a bullpen which is pretty doggone good right now as it is.”

Middle relievers only get attention when they perform well in the postseason. Ask the Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez.

For Alvarez and the Dodger crew, simply getting there would be reward enough.

J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com