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Padres aim to continue domination of Dodgers, sweep series

Jul 1, 2007 - 2:45 PM San Diego (46-33) at LA Dodgers (45-36) 4:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - The San Diego Padres look to continue their stranglehold over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday as they go for the three-game road series sweep.

Whatever the reason, the San Diego Padres enjoy seeing their division rival, as they have downed the Dodgers 10 out of the last 14 times they have met Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, including Saturday's 3-1 win in 12 innings.

To complete the sweep, the Padres will send pleasant surprise Justin Germano (5-1, 2.67 ERA) to the mound. On Monday, He allowed two runs and three hits in six frames against the Giants, but did not receive the decision in a 4-3, 11-inning loss.

In his first seven starts, the righthander won his first five decisions and carried a 2.36 ERA before going 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA over his last two outings. Germano is 0-1 with a 17.18 ERA in two lifetime appearances - including one start - against Los Angeles but has not faced them since 2004.

Chad Billingsley (4-0, 4.01), who is taking the rotation spot of Jason Schmidt, has not been involved in the decision in either of his two starts, but has surrendered seven runs over his last 7 2/3 innings, even though the Dodgers won both starts. He will making his first start of the season against San Diego.

One of those starts was a 6-5, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, as he allowed five runs and four hits over four frames.

Billingsley is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA in six career appearances - including three starts - against the Padres, including a win in three relief appearances against the Padres earlier in the season.