A Low Five by Alvarez

In the Dodger clubhouse, Wilson Alvarez pointed the finger at himself.

“The way I’m pitching right now, I do not deserve to start again,� he said.

In the manager’s office, Jim Tracy pointed the finger at a weakened rotation that Alvarez has done nothing to strengthen. He labored through five innings, none of them pretty, in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

“He gave us five innings,� Tracy said. “That cannot happen on a regular basis.�

The Dodgers tossed Alvarez into the rotation last week. In his first start, he gave up two home runs in the first inning, six runs in all, and left after three innings. On Monday, in front of an announced 44,255, he gave up a home run to the first batter, two runs in the first inning and five runs in nine hits in all.

He left after five innings.

Tracy hears the cries from fans wondering why he would use Scott Erickson, D.J. Houlton or Giovanni Carrara instead of Yhency Brazoban, Duaner Sanchez or Eric Gagne. The problem isn’t the long relievers, he suggested, so much as the recurring need for long relief.

If he burns out his bullpen now because his starters can’t pitch deep into games, then he won’t be able to push his best relievers in the heat of the pennant race -- if, that is, the starters can keep the Dodgers in the race.

“I can’t pitch Brazoban, Sanchez and Gagne on a regular basis,� Tracy said. “It’s not August. It’s May. I can’t do that.�

The Cubs had no starting worries Monday, not with Hall of Famer-in-waiting Greg Maddux on their side. Maddux got his 308th victory, allowing one earned run and scattering five hits over six innings.

He staged one of his trademark clinics on changing speeds and mixing pitches. He walked none -- for the third consecutive start -- and won despite a fastball clocked on the stadium radar gun at 83-84 mph.

Jerry Hairston hit that leadoff home run off Alvarez, and Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez homered too. Olmedo Saenz drove in all the Dodger runs, with a two-run double off Maddux in the fourth inning and a solo homer off closer Ryan Dempster in the ninth.

The Dodger Stadium security force was nearly as efficient as Maddux. In the sixth inning, a fan ran onto the field from the stands behind first base, waving what appeared to be a Dodger flag and heading into center field. He dropped the flag and fell to the ground as seven security guards surrounded him and kept him down. The Los Angeles Police Department marched him through the center-field gate, and the episode delayed the game for only two minutes.

By then, Alvarez was long gone, prompting the Dodgers to start thinking about who should start when his turn comes up again Saturday. With Odalis Perez on the disabled list, Erickson demoted to the bullpen and Derek Thompson promoted last week from double-A Jacksonville, General Manager Paul DePodesta said the options include Sanchez, Houlton and triple-A pitchers Edwin Jackson, Pat Mahomes and Ryan Rupe. DePodesta said he would not promote another pitcher from Jacksonville.