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Dodgers-Padres Preview

Jul 5, 2009 - 3:28 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Los Angeles (51-29) at San Diego (34-45), 4:05 p.m. EDT

Now that the question of when Manny Ramirez will hit a home run has been answered, the Los Angeles Dodgers will see if their slugger can produce in a victory.

Ramirez and the Dodgers try to take two of three from the San Diego Padres on Sunday in the series finale at Petco Park.

In his second game back, and fifth plate appearance, following a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy, Ramirez hit a first-inning solo shot off Josh Geer on Saturday for his seventh homer of the season.

The Dodgers (51-30), though, closed out their first half of the season with a 7-4 loss.

"I think this is his comfort zone, in that batter's box, in the ballpark, in the clubhouse, something that he hasn't had for a couple of months," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of Ramirez. "I think it's going to take a little time, but I think it's just him getting the rust off and getting used to what he's doing."

Ramirez went 0 for 3 with a walk in the Dodgers' 6-3 series-opening victory Friday.

He needs one homer to move past Jimmie Foxx (534) for sole possession of 16th place on the all-time list and two to match Mickey Mantle (536) for 15th.

The Dodgers still hold a 6 1/2-game advantage over San Francisco for the NL West lead. With six losses in its last 10 games - including three of four on the road - Los Angeles is trying to close out the first leg of its nine-game trip on a positive note.

Giving the ball to Chad Billingsley (9-4, 3.12 ERA) could help. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three starts against the Padres this season, and in 12 career starts versus San Diego, he is 7-3 with a 2.65 ERA.

The Dodgers, however, have lost Billingsley's last three starts. In Tuesday's 3-0 defeat to Colorado, Billingsley tied a season high with 11 strikeouts, but allowed three runs and five hits over 7 2-3 innings.

"Billingsley was great," Torre told the team's official Web site. "He went after it tonight and certainly pitched well enough to win. He battled as he always does, and his command was much better than it has been recently."

Billingsley had six strikeouts and nine walks in his previous two starts.

San Diego (35-45) counters with Josh Banks (1-0, 3.38), who makes his first appearance against Los Angeles. The right-hander was called up from Triple-A Portland on June 16 and made two relief appearances before taking left-hander Wade LeBlanc's spot in the rotation.

In his first start Tuesday, Banks picked up his first win since July 26. He surrendered three runs and five hits over seven innings of a 4-3 triumph over Houston.

"Banks did a great job of just holding them to three and giving us a chance," infielder David Eckstein told the Padres' official Web site. "It could have easily been six, but he kept it at three. He gave us a chance to come back."

Eckstein had a pair of RBI singles while rookie Everth Cabrera added two hits, three RBIs and two runs as San Diego snapped a three-game skid Saturday.

Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is 3 for 9 with three RBIs in the series. He batted .171 (7 for 41) with three RBIs in his previous 13 games.

San Diego has won two of three over Los Angeles after losing seven of the first nine matchups this season.