ROOKIE SHINES FOR L.A. BILLINGSLEY'S OUTING HELPS LIFT DODGERS DODGERS 4, FLORIDA 0.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND  Staff Writer

A starting pitcher in danger of losing his place in the rotation usually isn't difficult to spot.

The symptoms are universal and typically include a losing record and an ERA north of 5.00.

Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley had neither, but seemed in imminent danger of falling out of the rotation.

Billinglsey, successful of late but hurt by control problems, had a magnificent outing Tuesday night. He allowed three hits in seven shutout innings and won his third consecutive decision as the Dodgers scored four times in the seventh to beat Florida 4-0 in front of 47,960 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers won for the 17th time in their past 18 games with some typical late dramatics.

Kenny Lofton, J.D. Drew, Jeff Kent and Andre Ethier drove in runs in the seventh to break a scoreless tie.

Until then, the game had been a showcase of two of the National League's promising rookie pitchers, Billingsley and Florida's Anibal Sanchez, who allowed three hits in six shutout innings.

Billingsley, who walked at least five batters in three of his previous four starts, issued his only walk Tuesday when Joe Borchard (Camarillo High) reached with two outs in the seventh.

Billingsley (4-3) struck out a career-high nine, tying the mark for most by a Dodger pitcher this season.

The Dodgers pulled through in the seventh against Florida reliever Randy Messenger.

Russell Martin led off with a single and moved up on pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez's bunt. Rafael Furcal walked and Lofton's double put the Dodgers up 1-0. Lofton scored on a fielder's choice groundout by Drew.

Kent and Ethier followed with RBI singles against Taylor Tankersley for a 4-0 lead.

That made a winner out of Billingsley, whose rotation spot had been put in question by manager Grady Little.

In many ways, Billingsley's learning curve has been steep. The 22-year-old right-hander struggled in his first month, not surprisingly, but had produced solid results in his previous six starts.

Other than a five-inning clunker July 23 against St. Louis, Billingsley had allowed just three earned runs in a span of 29 innings, although he also walked 21 batters during that stretch, which limited his innings.

Entering Tuesday, the Dodgers had a 5-2 record in the past seven games started by Billingsley, a more-than-respectable mark for someone considered a No. 5 starter, but there are other factors involved.

Most notably, the Dodgers are keeping an eye on Billingsley's innings, and that could factor into if he stays into the rotation and how much he pitches in September.

Between the majors and Triple-A, Billingsley had already thrown 127 innings, just 19 short of what he totaled in the minors last season.

With former No. 5 starter Aaron Sele doing little more these days than sitting in the bullpen watching, Little didn't make much effort to downplay the idea that a change in the rotation could take place.

The Marlins also have had to show patience with their starter, Sanchez, who has been inconsistent.

Sanchez struggled in his first three starts, then went 3-0 in his next three, with just one earned run allowed in 21 innings. In his past three starts, however, Sanchez went 0-2 with 12 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. On Aug. 4 against the Dodgers, he allowed two runs in six innings and lost.

Sanchez walked Lofton with one out in the first inning but then retired 10 hitters in a row.

The Dodgers threatened in the fifth, after consecutive one-out singles by Wilson Betemit and Martin.

Billingsley failed to get down a sacrifice bunt and struck out but Furcal walked to load the bases. Lofton worked the count to 3-1 but then flied out to right to end the inning.

Miguel Olivo and Alfredo Amezaga led off the sixth with consecutive singles, but Sanchez failed to get down a bunt. Olivo moved to third on Hanley Ramirez's deep fly out to right. No. 3 hitter Dan Uggla worked Billingsley to a 3-1 countbut swung and missed a full-count slider to end the inning.

In the sixth, Nomar Garciaparra and Drew led off with walks, but Kent fouled out, Ethier flied out and Betemit grounded out as Sanchez escaped a jam for a third consecutive inning.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Chad Billingsley threw seven shutout innings against Florida in the Dodgers' victory Tuesday.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) HENDRICKSON

Box:

DODGERS vs. FLORIDA

- Rich Hammond