LOS ANGELES -- The first words out of manager Joe Torre's mouth said everything he wanted to say about what he'd just seen.

"It's like he's playing catch with the catcher," Torre said, describing the five shutout innings Greg Maddux threw against the Dodgers in a 1-0 Padres victory Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

For their part, the Dodgers got five solid innings from right-hander Chad Billingsley on Sunday, but couldn't cope with the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer, who collected his 349th career win.

Billingsley (0-2) walked only two batters and struck out eight en route to shaving more than four runs off his ERA, which now stands at 5.59.

He said he felt good about having made significant changes since his previous outing, a 2 1/3-inning stint at Arizona in which he gave up five runs (four earned) while striking out two, walking three and hitting two batters.

So what did he work on during the interim?

"Getting my timing back," Billingsley said, "and getting everything together. I had to make sure [my delivery] was coming through instead of letting the ball fly out of my hand."

Catcher Russell Martin elaborated on the improvement.

"It looked like he found his control on his fastball and cutter," Martin said. "He threw some good breaking balls with good bite on them."

But both agreed Maddux (2-0) was in an unshakable groove, and Torre threw in a factor he'd pointed out in a pregame interview.

"Some hitters go up there knowing [Maddux's] reputation and maybe get themselves out that way," Torre said. "We hit some balls hard, but that doesn't count."

In the fourth inning, with two out and Jeff Kent at second by way of a stinging double down the left-field line, Martin ripped a ground ball up the middle that had a chance. Shortstop Khalil Greene got to the ball and gunned it to first to retire the side.

It was the second of three times all day that the Dodgers got a man as far as second, including Rafael Furcal's single to begin the game (he took second on Maddux's first balk since 2000) and James Loney's two-out double in the ninth off closer Trevor Hoffman, who recorded his fourth save of the season.

Loney's hit extended his consecutive-game hitting streak to a career-high 12.

Sunday's outcome was a somber turnaround from the 11-1 slugfest the Dodgers enjoyed on Saturday night, a fact not lost on Torre, but enough to raise a hackle or two when it was pointed out.

"Do you have any idea how that happened?" Torre asked, quickly answering: "Try the pitcher on the mound."

Torre was equally protective when asked the inevitable question about slumping center fielder Andruw Jones, whose 0-for-2 showing on Sunday left him batting .100 (4-for-40) for the first 12 games of the season.

"Up and down the lineup, everyone struggled today," the manager said of his team's five-hit attack against Maddux and relievers Joe Thatcher, Cla Meredith, Heath Bell and Hoffman. "You're not going to drop this one on Andruw Jones. Andruw's struggling. We're not going to flower that up. He'll just have to grind it out until he gets going."

San Diego got on the board in the fourth inning when Jim Edmonds walked, moved to third on Greene's double down the left-field line, and came home on Paul McAnulty's sacrifice fly.

After giving up a leadoff single to Furcal, Maddux allowed two baserunners over the rest of his five-inning outing -- Jones on a walk in the second and Kent's double.

Chan Ho Park pitched two shutout innings in relief of Billingsley before giving way to Jonathan Broxton and Joe Beimel.

Torre said Billingsley, who threw 90 pitches in 95-degree heat, asked to pitch the sixth.

"But his pitch count was up," Torre said. "It hadn't been that high. He'll have a lot more confidence going into his next start."