• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Billingsley sharp as Dodgers top Padres

Sep 13, 2007 - 5:55 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Chad Billingsley must really enjoy pitching against the San Diego Padres.

Billingsley hurled six solid innings and won his fourth straight decision as the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to a 6-1 triumph over the Padres on Wednesday.

James Loney and Jeff Kent each homered for the Dodgers (76-69), who pulled into a tie with the Colorado Rockies (76-69) for third place in the National League West and sit six games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks (83-64).

"We know that every game from here on out is important for us and that we have to keep playing good baseball," Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

The 23-year-old Billingsley (11-4) yielded just one run on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts. The righthander has won four consecutive decisions, posting a 1.64 ERA in his last five outings.

"I'm just trying to go out and pitch good to keep us in the game," Billingsley said. "Every game is a big game for us right now."

Billingsley has been dominant against the Padres this season, going 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA over six games, including three starts. In those three starts, Billingsley allowed just one run over 20 innings.

"I don't know what it is, but it seems like I pitch pretty good against those guys," Billingsley said. "They have a tough lineup to face which makes it hard on any pitcher who faces them."

The only San Diego batters to get a hit off Billingsley were Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff.

"We wanted to win this game, but just couldn't pull it out," Greene said. "Just hope we can come out here tomorrow and pull out a win and take the series."

Loney, who had three hits, blasted a two-run shot off Padres starter Justin Germano (7-10) in the fourth inning to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. It was Loney's 11th home run of the season.

"This was a big win for us after losing last night," Loney said.

The 23-year-old Loney is now 12-for-25 (.480) with five homers and eight RBI in his last six games.

"Right now I'm just seeing the ball good and just being patient and waiting for a pitch that I can drive," Loney said.

Kent smashed a solo shot to lead off the sixth and Russell Martin added an RBI double later in the inning to extend Los Angeles' advantage to 6-1.

"It was a big inning for us to put more runs on the board because we know that they can come back late in games," Little said.

The Dodgers opened the scoring when Martin's groundout plated Loney in the second inning and Juan Pierre delivered an RBI single in the third to make it 2-0.

Green and Kouzmanoff each had three hits for the Padres (78-66), who have fallen 3 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the NL West. The Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-4, on Wednesday.

"We would have liked to taken this game from them, but they came out ready to play," Padres manager Bud Black said.

Germano pitched five innings, surrendering six runs and eight hits with just two strikeouts. The 25-year-old righthander has lost each of his last three starts and 10 of his last 12 decisions.

"I felt fine," Germano said. "Just made some bad pitches out over the plate and they took advantage of them. Hope Greg (Maddux) can come out tomorrow and pick us up."

Mike Cameron went 0-for-5, striking out a career-high five times, for San Diego.