LOS ANGELES -- With Hong-Chih Kuo in the Minors and Jason Schmidt on the disabled list for the rest of the season, the Dodgers were in need of some consistency at the back end of their rotation.

On Sunday afternoon, Chad Billingsley, the man that manager Grady Little appointed to take Schmidt's spot in the rotation, rose to the occasion and shut out the first-place Padres for seven innings.

Led by Billingsley, the Dodgers blanked San Diego, 5-0, in front of 48,632 at Dodger Stadium.

"We're glad [Billingsley] showed up out there today against a good ballclub," Little said. "It's good to get that one behind him. Any time you can get out of here with a win against that ballclub, we feel great."

Billingsley did more than keep the Dodgers in the game. The young right-hander tied his career high with nine strikeouts and gave up just three hits in the outing.

"I felt really comfortable," Billingsley said. "The first two times out is getting adjusted to everything and getting back into the starting routine. The main thing is taking the mound and keeping the team in the game."

Billingsley, who used a 92-mph fastball and changed speeds effectively throughout the game, had command of all his pitches and retired the last 16 batters he faced, from the second inning through the seventh.

According to catcher Russell Martin, the game plan for Billingsley was to be aggressive and get ahead of hitters. In his last two starts, Billingsley allowed too many hits after getting two strikes on batters. On Sunday, he was aggressive after getting two strikes, and it worked out for him, as he recorded the nine strikeouts.

"You have to give credit to Chad Billingsley," said Martin, who was announced as the starting catcher for the National League All-Star team on Sunday. "He was aggressive, threw a lot of strikes and had command of all his pitches. He's the one that kept us in that game."

Offensively, the Dodgers found a way to help their young pitcher, hitting two homers and producing a three-run third inning. The Dodgers scored five runs on eight hits against Padres starter Justin Germano, who went 6 2/3 innings.

In the third inning, with Matt Kemp at second base and two outs, Rafael Furcal, Juan Pierre and Martin hit consecutive RBI singles to put the Dodgers up, 3-0.

"We've seen a turnaround in our total approach at the plate," Little said. "We're seeing more pitches and better pitches to hit. It's not going to happen every single at-bat, but we have some veteran players, and we're looking forward to them lighting a fire under themselves and getting it going, like they've been doing their whole careers."

In the fourth inning, the Dodgers got a boost from their young right fielder Kemp, who drilled a 3-2 fastball over the fence in right-center. Kemp, who had two hits in the game, said that he felt comfortable at the plate and got a good pitch to hit.

"I'm always comfortable up there," Kemp said. "He was throwing the ball low and away, and I was just trying to stay aggressive. He left one up, and that was basically it."

The Dodgers continued their weekend trend of stealing bases against the Padres, taking 10 in the three-game series. Pierre, who stole a bag in this game, has swiped eight bases in his last six games and five in the series.

Furcal, who hit his second home run of the season in the seventh inning, stole two bases in the series, as did Martin.

With the win, the Dodgers avoided being swept by the Padres and are now just one game back in the division heading into a tough four-game series with the Atlanta Braves.