Dodgers won’t throw it back

Like the Dodgers’ two previous victories, their 4-3 triumph over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night was lacking in the aesthetics department.

They took a lead, then gave it up. The go-ahead run got to third base on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly. They left the bases full in the seventh inning and Russell Martin was caught in a rundown between third and home the next inning.

But the grinding victory put the Dodgers in position to win their fourth consecutive game today when they close their three-game homestand, which precedes a 10-game trip against San Diego, Chicago and San Francisco.

The Dodgers remained 3 1/2 games back of the Padres in the wild-card race but picked up their second game in as many days on the West division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, whom they now trail by 4 1/2 games.

“How we do it, how we have to do it, we just have to get it done,” Manager Grady Little said. “We’re not in the position to have lapses right now.”

Alluding also to the Dodgers’ 5-4 win over the Nationals on Monday night, Mark Sweeney said, “When you’re winning one-run ballgames, it’s a good indication that you’re playing good baseball.”

The 158th pinch hit of Sweeney’s career was a big one. Hitting in place of Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley in the seventh, Sweeney doubled, moved to third on an error by shortstop Felipe Lopez and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andre Ethier.

For the third consecutive game, the bullpen didn’t give up any runs, as Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito put up zeros to extend the unit’s shutout streak to nine innings. Saito earned his 36th save.

Mark Hendrickson and Scott Proctor served as the bridge to Saito the previous night. Sunday, it was Rudy Seanez, Joe Beimel and Broxton who performed those duties.

“They’ve been outstanding, every one of them,” Little said. “They’ve held the opponents to nothing and that’s been the difference.”

And they allowed Billingsley (9-4) to earn the win despite exiting the game when tied. Billingsley commanded his pitches well enough to complete seven innings for his second start in a row, but he gave up a home run to pinch-hitter Tony Batista in his final inning of work. Batista’s solo shot, his first home run of the season, tied it at 3-3.

To get to that point, Billingsley had to overcome a first-inning confrontation with wildness. After Felipe Lopez scored on a double by Dmitri Young, Billingsley hit Austin Kearns and Ryan Church in consecutive at-bats to load the bases. He escaped the jam by forcing Ronnie Belliard to pop up to first.

Jeff Kent helped stake Billingsley to a 3-1 lead, reaching base on an infield single that was the first of three Dodgers hits in a two-run second inning and belting a solo home run to left in the third.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com