Dodgers dig deep in win

The kids weren’t afraid.

Chad Billingsley wasn’t, twice loading the bases but minimizing the damage in a start he didn’t know he would be making until the previous night. James Loney wasn’t, belting his fifth home run in his last six games and scoring three runs.

What resulted was a crucial 6-1 victory for the Dodgers over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium that cut the Padres’ lead in the wild card to 2 1/2 games and moved them into a three-way tie for second in that race with Colorado and Philadelphia.

Only 17 games remain in the regular season.

“I wanted the ball,” Billingsley said. “It’s a big series, a big homestand.”

He was handed the ball because Derek Lowe bruised his pitching hand the previous day playing catch with Jonathan Broxton during pregame warmups. Billingsley wasn’t told by Manager Grady Little that he would be pitching until after Tuesday’s series-opening loss, by which time he had thrown 30 pitches in a bullpen session.

“It happens,” Billingsley said, shrugging.

Nonetheless, Billingsley (11-4) continued his mastery over the Padres, limiting them to five hits and a solitary run over six innings. He improved to 4-0 with a 1.05 earned-run average in six games, including four starts, against the Padres.

But the win didn’t come easy.

Billingsley walked Terrmel Sledge to load the bases in the second inning, escaping the jam by forcing pitcher Justin Germano to pop up to first.

The more serious threat came in the fourth, when Billingsley gave up a leadoff double to Khalil Greene and proceeded to walk Kevin Kouzmanoff and Michael Barrett. Only one run would score, as Billingsley got Sledge to ground into a double play and Germano to strike out.

Olmedo Saenz pinch-hit for Billingsley in the sixth, at which point Billingsley had thrown 109 pitches. Billingsley hadn’t thrown 100 pitches since a loss to Houston on Aug. 13.

“He ran into a situation where he used more pitches than he wanted to, which probably cost him an inning at the end,” Little said.

“But he made pitches when he had to.”

Much the way Loney hit them when he had to.

Loney and the Dodgers punished Germano, pounding him for six runs and eight hits in five innings. Germano, born in Pasadena and raised in Claremont, fell to 2-10 over his last 16 starts.

Loney was three for four, making him 12 for 25 over the last week. He doubled to right in the second inning, advancing to third on an error by Brian Giles. He scored on a groundout by Russell Martin.

“He doesn’t have any holes in his swing,” Martin said. “When he’s feeling good at the plate, there’s not any certain way you can pitch to him to get him out.”

The Dodgers doubled their lead the next inning when Rafael Furcal stole second and was driven in on a two-out single by Juan Pierre.

Loney launched a two-run home run in the fourth to increase the Dodgers’ advantage to 5-0. A solo homer by Jeff Kent in the sixth put the Dodgers ahead, 6-0, and spelled the end of Germano’s night.

Reliever Justin Hampson replaced Germano, but Loney tagged him for a single and scored on a double by Martin.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com