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Suddenly hot Dodgers look to continue success in San Francisco

Sep 7, 2007 - 2:29 PM LA Dodgers (74-66) at San Francisco (63-77) 10:05 pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) - The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the playoff race, and their recent road success against the San Francisco Giants should help them stay there.

Chad Billingsley takes the mound looking for his fourth straight win as the Dodgers visit the Giants in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.

Los Angeles, which has won 14 of its last 21 games, has moved to within 2 1/2 games of the wild card-leading San Diego Padres (76-63). It will aim for a 12th straight win at AT&T Park on Friday.

The Dodgers, who have not lost here since August of last season, also trail the Arizona Diamondbacks (78-63) by 3 1/2 games in the National League West.

Andre Ethier hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth inning as Los Angeles rallied to post a 7-4 victory in the rubber game of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

Billingsley (10-4, 3.30 ERA) will try to continue the momentum. The righthander has been outstanding, allowing just four runs in his last 22 innings.

In his last start, the 23-year-old Billingsley yielded four hits and struck out nine in seven innings of a 5-0 win over the Padres on Sunday.

Jonathan Sanchez (1-3, 5.27) gets the ball for San Francisco, which has dropped four of its last five games.

The lefthander is making his second start of the season. On Saturday, Sanchez allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 4-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.