BILLINGSLEY HAS NOTHING TO GIVE ROOKIE GONE EARLY IN DODGERS' LOSS SAN DIEGO 11, DODGERS 2.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE Staff Writer

At best, the Dodgers were hoping pitcher Chad Billingsley could give them 80 or 90 pitches Saturday.

Unfortunately, the worst happened.

Billingsley, rusty from not pitching in nearly three weeks, struggled to get through the top of the first inning and was gone by the second inning. The Padres pounced on the rookie pitcher for three runs in the first, then rode the momentum to an 11-2 victory in front of 55,781fans at Dodger Stadium.

In the process, the Padres drew to within a half-game of the first-place Dodgers in the tight National League West Division race. The two clubs resume their crucial four-game series this afternoon, with the Dodgers sending Derek Lowe to the mound against Chris Young.

The series concludes Monday, at which point the teams will go their separate ways the rest of the regular season.

That might be good news for the Dodgers, who have lost 12 of 16games to the Padres this year after Saturday's drubbing.

``We had a gameplan coming in,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ``But it didn't take to long before that plan fell apart.''

Billingsley last pitched Aug. 27 against Arizona, then missed his next three scheduled starts while recovering from a strained oblique muscle. The Dodgers weren't counting on much from the hard-throwing 22-year-old Saturday, but certainly they were hoping for more than one inning.

After striking out Dave Roberts to start the game, Billingsley allowed four of the next five batters to reach base on two walks, two singles and a double. The result was a 3-0 Padres lead.

Billingsley eventually made it through the first inning, but was gone by the time the Dodgers returned to the field to start the bottom of the second.

He said he felt fine physically, but was out of sorts in every other department. That was evident in the 40 pitches he labored through, only 18 of which were strikes.

``I wasn't in any kind of a zone at all,'' Billingsley said. ``It seemed like I was pitching from behind to everyone I faced. It's tough falling behind 3-0 to batters then having to throw strikes from that point. Hopefully, I can put this one behind me as soon as possible and get ready for my next start.''

Eric Stults took over for Billingsley in the second and escaped without giving up a run despite loading the bases.

But the roof caved in soon after.

The rookie left-hander gave up a two-run home run to Mike Cameron, a long double to Russell Bynum and an RBI single to Roberts in the third inning, and was eventually lifted for Tim Hamulack.

Hamulack proceeded to surrender an RBI double to Giles and two-run home runs to Todd Walker and Adrian Gonzalez before finally closing the inning by getting Cameron to strike out swinging.

By then, the Padres had a commanding 11-1 lead and the Dodgers were already looking ahead to today's game.

``For a moment it looked like a driving range out there,'' Little said. ``Nobody got hurt, though. So we'll come back out (today) looking to get back on track.''

The best pitcher for the Dodgers might have turned out to be Mark Hendrickson, who restored some semblance of order over his four innings of work between the fourth and seventh innings.

Hendrickson, who the Dodgers acquired from Tampa Bay in late June to help shore up their starting pitching, was ineffective in his 12starts and was taken out of the rotation.

Saturday, he was the best the Dodgers had on a forgettable night in which three other pitchers gave up 11 runs in three innings.

Hendrickson struck out the first three batters he faced, and finished with eight strikeouts on the night.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley frowns after letting San Diego jump out to an early lead.

(2) Dodgers right fielder J.D. Drew can't catch up to a fly ball hit by Brian Giles, who ended up with a double.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Box:

DODGERS vs. SAN DIEGO

- Vincent Bonsignore