Hillenbrand is latest pickup

ST. LOUIS -- A day after trading for veteran pinch-hit specialist Mark Sweeney, the Dodgers on Friday signed infielder Shea Hillenbrand to a minor league deal and assigned him to triple-A Las Vegas.

Hillenbrand started the season with the Angels but was released at the All-Star break after hitting .254 in 53 games with three homers and 22 runs batted in. He signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres less than three weeks later, but they let him go Wednesday after he hit .147 with only one extra-base hit in nine games at triple-A Portland.

Hillenbrand, 31, who can play both corner infield spots, is a two-time American League All-Star and has a .285 career average in seven big league seasons with Boston, Arizona, Toronto, San Francisco and the Angels.

Sweeney, meanwhile, has gone from watching a home run race to participating in a pennant race in the span of three days. And he left no doubt Friday which he prefers.

“Being in a pennant race is a good feeling,” said Sweeney, traded to the Dodgers on Thursday after watching from the Giants’ dugout as Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.

“I don’t have to watch a home run race, which was exciting, [to] be a part of history. But this is exciting as a team and I’m looking forward to it.”

Sweeney, a left-handed hitter, is second to Lenny Harris on baseball’s all-time list with 155 pinch hits. And Manager Grady Little said his presence on the Dodgers’ bench will give opponents something to think about when they set up their bullpen.

“It gives us another experienced bat off the bench,” he said. “And that never hurts. He’s a good teammate. Everyone likes him. He knows his job. He’s always prepared to do it. And he’s good around the clubhouse.”

Sweeney, 37, who can play first and the outfield, had a big league-best 16 pinch hits for the Giants this season. In his first at-bat for the Dodgers, Sweeney struck out Friday with a runner on second and two out in the eighth inning of a 0-0 game against the Cardinals.

To make room for Sweeney on their roster, the Dodgers optioned right-hander D.J. Houlton to Las Vegas. Houlton had pitched only one inning in the last 15 days and Little said one reason for sending him back to the minors was to get him back on the mound.

“There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll probably need him later on,” Little said. “But he needs to pitch more than we’ve pitched him.”

Houlton, scheduled to work two innings for Las Vegas today, was 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA in 15 2/3 innings in two stints with the Dodgers this season.

Trying to spark the Cardinals’ slumping offense, Manager Tony La Russa batted his pitcher eighth for the seventh consecutive game Friday, using former Angel Adam Kennedy in the ninth spot.

In the previous six games Cardinals pitchers went three for 12 while the ninth-place hitter was five for 25 as the team went 3-3. But St. Louis averaged only 3 1/2 runs a game in those six games, nearly a run less than their season average.

When La Russa started the trend last Saturday by batting Joel Pineiro eighth, it was the first time a pitcher batted out of the ninth spot in a big league game since 2005, when the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis hit seventh twice and eighth twice in his final four starts.

La Russa also used the strategy in 1998, batting his pitcher eighth 76 times that season.

The Dodgers’ July 27 game that was rained out in Colorado will be made up Sept. 18 as part of a day-night doubleheader.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com