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One night after the
Los Angeles Dodgers
used a four-time Cy Young Award winner to stay atop the NL West, they will turn to a rookie to try and increase that lead.
The Dodgers will send
Chad Billingsley
to the mound when they continue a four-game series against
San Diego Padres
on Saturday.
With a 3-1 win in the series opener Friday, Los Angeles (78-69) moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Diego. A stellar
outing from
Greg Maddux
was the key. The 40-year-old took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before
Brian Giles
singled with one out.
''Nothing this guy does surprises me,'' Los Angeles manager Grady Little said of Maddux who recorded his 331st victory. ''There's
a reason he's done what he's done in his career.''
Relievers
Jonathan Broxton
and
Takashi Saito
each worked an inning to complete the combined two-hitter. But first baseman
Nomar Garciaparra
left after six innings with a strained left quadriceps.
Garciaparra leads the Dodgers with just 17 homers and is second with 82 RBIs.
''He's day-to-day and he doesn't think it's serious, but we'll know more tomorrow,'' Little said
Billingsley (5-3, 3.02 ERA) seeks to win his fifth straight decision for Los Angeles when he returns to the mound for the
first time since Aug. 27. The right-hander suffered a strained right oblique in that game against Arizona, and was cleared
to start after throwing a simulated game Wednesday in Chicago.
''I was a little rusty with my release point from not throwing, but my side didn't hurt and my arm felt good,'' Billingsley
said. ''This was the first time with full effort, which is why I was kind of rusty.''
Billingsley is 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA over his last six outings and has improved his control within that stretch. He's issued
three walks in his last three outings after walking 14 over the previous three.
He also made his major-league debut against the Padres on June 15 and has no record with a 2.61 ERA in three starts against
them.
With the loss, San Diego not only missed a chance to take over first place, but had its wild card lead over Philadelphia reduced
to 1 1/2 games.
San Diego is hoping veteran
Woody Williams
(8-5, 3.79) will continue his success against the Dodgers. He's 8-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 18 career starts versus Los Angeles.
Williams also is 4-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his last four starts against the Dodgers dating back to June 21, 2005.
In six outings since losing to the
New York Mets
on Aug. 8, Williams is 4-1 with a 3.58 ERA. He allowed one run over six innings and also recorded his third career three-hit
game Sunday in a 10-2 victory over San Francisco.
''It was all Woody,'' Padres manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''We saw the
Woody Williams
show tonight. I don't know what he didn't do.''
Williams is 5-2 with a 3.09 ERA in nine career starts at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers second baseman
Jeff Kent
is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with three homers and eight RBIs in his career against Williams.
Bochy said reliever
Doug Brocail
will miss some playing time after straining a hamstring in the seventh inning.
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