BILLINGSLEY'S FINALE PAINFUL STARTER ROUGHED UP, BUT DODGERS RALLY DODGERS 6, SAN FRANCISCO 5 (10).

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

Chad Billingsley's final start of the season wasn't long enough to be memorable and wasn't effective enough to qualify as a fitting sendoff. But it also didn't begin to tell the story of the promising young right- hander's year, and what it means to a Dodgers pitching staff that by next spring could be one of the best in baseball.

On the other hand, it could be something else entirely.

The Dodgers clinched a winning record in this otherwise-lost season by beating the San Francisco Giants 6-5 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. The game ended when Luis Gonzalez, pinch hitting for Takashi Saito, plugged the gap in left-center to drive in Andy LaRoche from second in the bottom of the 10th inning. The game drew a paid crowd of 51,983, running the season total to 3,807,825, the most in the 46-year history of the ballpark.

Billingsley lasted just 11/3innings on an evening when he could be forgiven for having lacked his usual intensity. He took the mound in a meaningless game less than 24 hours before the entire club says its goodbyes and players disperse to their respective homes around the country. The Giants torched Billingsley for four runs on six hits, and Billingsley didn't help things by issuing three walks and throwing 54 pitches.

But the fact the Dodgers came back from that 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in the fourth saved Billingsley from getting stuck with the loss, and he finished the season 12-5 with a 3.31 ERA. He will enter next season as one of the key pieces of a starting rotation that already seems somewhat set.

"He was outstanding this year," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He came out of spring training and worked out of the bullpen, and he learned a lot of things, and he brought them to the table when he became a starter. It will be a pleasant thing to watch from day one of spring training knowing that he is one of the starters for the Los Angeles Dodgers and to see him get a full year behind him.

"This guy doesn't lack for confidence. He is far ahead of the game (compared) to a lot of guys his age who are just coming out of college."

The Dodgers (82-79) will finish with a winning record for the seventh time in eight years during this decade. They have a chance this afternoon to sweep their season-ending series with the Giants, which would give them 83 wins -- exactly the number of regular-season victories the St. Louis Cardinals compiled last season on their way to winning the World Series.

Assuming Jason Schmidt comes back healthy, the Dodgers will have Billingsley, Schmidt, Brad Penny, Derek Lowe and Esteban Loaiza, in no particular order, as their five starters. And while that isn't necessarily murderer's row -- especially given the fact Schmidt essentially missed the season with shoulder problems and Loaiza has been far from vintage since the Dodgers picked him up on a waiver claim last month -- it still is a pretty good starting point to make trades this winter or for the club to hang its hopes on next spring.

There also is a remote chance the Dodgers will re-sign David Wells, and a stronger chance they will re-sign Randy Wolf. There also are several fringe guys who could compete for a spot, including lefties Hong-Chih Kuo and Eric Stults, who will start today's season finale, and right-hander D.J. Houlton.

One person who probably won't factor into the mix is veteran left-hander Mark Hendrickson, who shone in what likely was his final appearance in a Dodgers uniform. After Billingsley's early exit, Hendrickson dominated the Giants for the next 41/3innings, retiring 13 of the 15 batters he faced.

He did give up a tying solo homer to Daniel Ortmeier, the same guy who beat the Dodgers with a walkoff shot on Sept. 7 at AT&T Park that marked the beginning of the end of their playoff hopes. But other than that, Hendrickson was splendid.

Not splended enough, alas, to justify the Dodgers offering him a contract this offseason. Hendrickson avoided arbitration last winter by agreeing to a one-year, $2.925 million contract, after which he went 4-8 with a 5.21ERA.

Hendrickson is eligible for arbitration again this year, meaning he stands to get a substantial raise on his already-inflated salary. Thus, the Dodgers are almost certain to non-tender him, making Hendrickson a free agent.

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DODGERS

TODAY

Dodgers (Stults 1-3) vs. San Francisco (Zito 10-13), 1:10p.m., Dodger Stadium.

TV: Prime Ticket.

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Photo:

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley lasted only 1 1/3 innings Saturday against San Francisco, but he will be a key part of the rotation next season.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer