Chad Billingsley not giving Dodgers what they need

In his last three starts, Chad Billingsley has matched his performances in the previous nine — just not in a manner the Dodgers would prefer.

After Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the right-hander has given up 17 runs in his three June starts. That equals the number of runs he had given up in his previous nine outings.

He yielded four runs in a win against Cincinnati on June 5, six runs in a loss to Colorado on Friday, and seven more in only four innings Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

“Personally, I didn’t get the job done today,” Billingsley said. “It’s unacceptable the way I’m pitching right now. I’m going to keep working hard and figure it out.”

Along with the 17 runs, the right-hander has been shelled for 30 hits in 132/3 innings.

“We know he’s better than what he’s shown the last few times out,” Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. “We’re all human; we make mistakes.”

Over his last three outings, Billingsley has struck out only nine, a total he has topped in two games this season. He also had topped 100 pitches in eight of nine starts — always finishing at least six innings — before his last three starts, when Billingsley has topped 100 pitches once, and that in five innings against the Reds on June 5.

“I think today was a little worse than the other ones,” Dodgers catcher Rod Barajas said Wednesday. “He needs to get back to making good pitches. Locating that fastball is the No. 1 thing. … That would make it a lot harder for hitters to sit on his secondary pitches.”

Barajas said Billingsley’s fastball and curveball were not at their strongest Wednesday, and he had difficulty finishing off batters. All nine Cincinnati hits came when Billingsley was ahead of or even with the batter in the count.

“It’s a little frustrating,” Manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s got plenty of weapons, and today he gave those guys too much to hit in those situations when he got ahead in the count.”

The Dodgers expect much more out of Billingsley, no matter the recent woes, Barajas said.

“He’s one of our horses,” Barajas said. “Whenever he goes out there we’re expecting a pretty strong outing, seven innings and he’s giving us a chance to win.

“It is frustrating for everybody, not just for him but for everybody in this clubhouse, because we know he’s a good pitcher and he’s capable of doing a lot.”

Falling short of those capabilities is not due to a flaw in his mechanics or delivery, Billingsley said.

“I’ve been making mistakes up in the zone and out over the plate … and I have to eliminate that,” he said.

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

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