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Aug 28, 2010 - 6:11 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (66-62) at Colorado (66-60), 8:10 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Dodgers are determined to make a late push for the postseason whether they have Manny Ramirez or not.

The mercurial slugger is expected to play Saturday night when the Dodgers try for their fifth straight win as they continue a three-game road set against the Colorado Rockies.

Ramirez was placed on waivers by the Dodgers, and the White Sox were awarded the claim that gives them exclusive bargaining rights for the slugger, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday.

The White Sox and Dodgers (67-62) have until 1:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday to complete a trade, which Ramirez would have to approve. The Dodgers also could let him go - with his consent - and the White Sox would simply assume his salary. Or, Los Angeles could keep Ramirez and try to make a run at the playoffs with him.

Manager Joe Torre said he thinks Ramirez will play Saturday, and it doesn't seem as though the trade talk has bothered him. The slugger sat out Friday's 6-2 victory because he was 1 for 13 with six strikeouts against Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez.

"He seems pretty comfortable to me," Torre said. "I talked to him a couple of times today, once on the phone and when he came here."

The Dodgers extended Jimenez's winless streak to four starts by beating the ace, who held them scoreless through seven innings before a five-run rally in the eighth. Casey Blake delivered the big blow with a go-ahead grand slam off Matt Belisle.

Los Angeles will turn to Chad Billingsley (10-7, 3.70), who is 3-2 with a 1.75 ERA over his last seven starts. He was scheduled to pitch Thursday in Milwaukee, but was pushed back due to a minor calf injury.

"He probably could've pitched Thursday," Torre told the Dodgers' official website. "But with the fact that we needed a fifth starter Saturday, we figured we'd rather give him the extra couple days."

The right-hander has not faced the Rockies this year, and is 2-3 with a 3.97 ERA against them in eight starts.

The Dodgers, who are 4 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the wild card, will like their chances of beating Jhoulys Chacin (6-9, 3.98 ERA) for the third straight time. Chacin stifled Los Angeles by yielding six hits over 7 1-3 innings to earn an 8-0 victory May 8 before going 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA in his next two starts against the club.

The right-hander was outstanding Sunday, allowing three hits over a career-long 7 2-3 innings in a 1-0 victory at Arizona.

"What a tremendous game he pitched," manager Jim Tracy said. "Fastball command, that opens the door for him to use his secondary pitches when he wants to use them. He commands the fastball like he did, you're in big trouble. That's how good his stuff is."

Chacin has a 5.58 ERA in the thin air of Coors Field compared to his 2.80 road ERA.

Colorado (66-61) fell to 3-7 against Los Angeles this year and 7-21 over the previous two with Friday's loss. The Rockies had a four-game win streak snapped, and have totaled eight runs in losing four of five to the Dodgers.