DODGERS NOTEBOOK: LITTLE: 87 WINS FOR TITLE.

Byline: TONY JACKSON Staff Writer

Dodgers manager Grady Little has said all season that his club will need 87 victories to win the National League West. By Monday, that meant the Dodgers would have to win nine of their final 13 games.

Even that didn't deter Little.

``We need to go 9-4 in order to do what we need to do,'' Little said. ``That's a lot of wins. ... That will get us to 87 wins. We'll see where that takes us.''

The 87-win mark might have seemed arbitrary when Little first mentioned it several months ago. But the fact it has become such a daunting task illustrates just how dire the Dodgers' present situation is.

Entering the finale of a critical four-game series between the Dodgers and first-place San Diego, the Padres had 14 games, or one more than the Dodgers, remaining on their schedule. If they were to simply play winning baseball over those games -- meaning an 8-6 mark -- the Dodgers would have to go 9-4 to finish a game ahead of them.

Meanwhile, the league office held another coin flip to determine the site of a potential one-game playoff for the wild-card. And although the Dodgers won home-field advantage in last week's flips in the event of a one-game playoff against either San Diego or San Francisco to determine the division winner, they lost this one to Philadelphia, meaning they would have to travel to Citizens Bank Park if they finished tied with the Phillies for the wild card.

If the Dodgers and Padres finish tied atop the NL West and the Phillies finish with the same record, the Dodgers and Padres would meet at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 2 to determine the division winner; the loser of that game would go to Philadelphia to play one game for the wild card; and the winner of that game would then travel to the home of its first-round opponent -- most likely the New York Mets in the Dodgers' case -- to begin the playoffs Oct.3.

Little said he has no preference between winning the division and the wild card.

``We want to get into postseason play,'' he said. ``That's our No. 1 objective. Right now, we're in a good position to do that. But we have to take care of business on the field.''

Dry run: Two days after throwing 40 pitches and lasting just one shaky inning in his return from an oblique injury, Chad Billingsley used his customary side day to throw live batting practice. Billingsley, who threw slightly more than 30 pitches Monday, said he felt much better. He still is scheduled to start Thursday night against Pittsburgh.