LOS ANGELES -- Chad Billingsley made the Dodgers postseason rotation. He'll start a Game 4 against the Cardinals in St. Louis, if necessary. Normally, you wouldn't think it would be an issue whether your All-Star starter was in the postseason rotation, but Billinglsey's horrendous second half left the question unanswered until manager Joe Torre made it official on Tuesday.Torre said that Vicente Padilla will start Game 3, followed by Billingsley.
"Padilla to me has been throwing the ball really well," Torre said. "I was probably just a little more comfortable with where Padilla is right now, and I know Billingsley is getting there. Otherwise he wouldn't even be considered for No. 4, if I didn't think I was more comfortable watching him."
Billingsley was 9-4 with a 3.38 ERA in the first half. In the second half, he was 4-10 with a 5.20 ERA. He was relegated briefly to the bullpen. He did better in his last couple of starts, and he threw 85 pitches in a simulated game in Arizona on Sunday, setting him up for the start.
He essentially got into the rotation by default, though, when Hiroki Kuroda got hurt and Jon Garland was knocked around for five runs in 3 1/3 innings in his final regular season start.
The only other mild surprise was that Torre said he'd start Ronnie Belliard at second instead of Orlando Hudson.
"He doesn't have as wide a range as Hudson does, but I think offensively he's a little fresher right now," Torre said.
