Hong Chih Kuo

Mannywood may have left Dodger Stadium, but its featured attraction could be back in left field as soon as Saturday. Manager Joe Torre said Friday it was possible Manny Ramirez would return to the Dodgers after only three minor league rehabilitation games with Class-A Inland Empire, considerably faster than initially expected. Ramirez played in the outfield Friday with the 66ers. He was initially expected to spend about a week with Inland Empire, which opens a three-game series Saturday in Bakersfield.

No Manny? No matter — the Dodgers still have Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda's no-hit pitching through 71/3 innings lifted the Dodgers to a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and ace Roy Halladay on Monday at Dodger Stadium. The win not only helped the Dodgers put Manny Ramirez's departure behind them, it also lifted the Dodgers to within 5 1/2 games of Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race. Kuroda, perfect before walking Carlos Ruiz with one out in the sixth, didn't allow a hit until Shane Victorino singled to right field with one out in the eighth.

Typical Dodgers. They're so hot that even when it seems they're not trying to win, they win. Manager Grady Little took advantage of Saturday's playoff-clinching win to rest all of his regulars for Sunday's season finale, and the Dodgers still beat the Giants, 4-3, behind James Loney's home run in the second inning, Ramon Martinez's two-run double in the sixth and Julio Lugo's tiebreaking run-scoring single in the seventh.

A week into the season, the question was how soon Manny Ramirez would stop walking so much and get some good pitches to hit. Then the question turned to when the slugger would hit his first home run. Now, with Ramirez hitting .345 and having slammed four homers -- including two in consecutive games against the Astros this week -- it would seem Manny at the plate is finally, well, back to being Manny. Not so, said Ramirez.

There are plenty of reasons to remain skeptical about the Dodgers. They are still 10 games under .500. They still haven't demonstrated an ability to score with any kind of consistency. And the three-game sweep they completed Sunday was over the San Diego Padres, who replaced them as the last-place team in the National League West. But after extended their winning streak to a season-long four games with a 4-1 victory over the Padres at Dodger Stadium, Manager Don Mattingly said he wished his team could continue playing rather than head into the All-Star break.

Reporting from Cincinnati — As many leg problems as Chad Billingsley has had over the years, he was never subjected to a stint on the disabled list. Until Tuesday. Unable to throw his regularly scheduled bullpen session without discomfort in his right groin, Billingsley was told he would be sidelined for at least two weeks starting Wednesday. Billingsley's protests were ignored. "I can only do so much," he said with a shrug. Instead of taking a wait-and-see approach with Billingsley, the Dodgers decided to move forward with a rotation that will continue to include two previously unknown rookies, John Ely and Carlos Monasterios . The latter was expected to be the odd-man out by Saturday, when opening day starter Vicente Padilla makes his scheduled return from the disabled list in Boston.

Dodgers first baseman James Loney went hitless in four at-bats Wednesday against Cincinnati, in part because Reds left fielder Jonny Gomes made a diving catch of a Loney line drive that was sure to make the highlight clips. Perhaps less noticed was that Gomes' catch also helped snap a six-game hitting streak that Loney had pieced together. That's a modest streak, but it was a place to start for Loney, who has struggled mightily at the plate this season. "It's going better," said Loney, whose streak included three multiple-hit games and a grand slam on Sunday.

Reporting from Chicago One step forward, three or four steps back. Just as the Dodgers finally got injured shortstop Rafael Furcal back in the lineup, right fielder Andre Ethier and catcher Rod Barajas were hurt in Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox. And that was after infielder Juan Uribe was put on the 15-day disabled list. In addition, the Dodgers' heretofore strong starting pitching again failed them, with Hiroki Kuroda giving up six runs, four of them earned, in 5 2/3 innings one day after Jon Garland gave up seven runs in his losing start.

At least the Dodgers didn't have to worry about who would be their closer Wednesday. On a day when incumbent closer Jonathan Broxton and hot-hitting Andre Ethier joined third baseman Casey Blake on the sidelines because of elbow problems, the Dodgers used a patchwork lineup that included only one player, Matt Kemp, batting over .250. That proved no match for Chicago Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano (4-1), who held the Dodgers to one run through eight innings, and home runs by a trio of Cubs powered Chicago to a 5-1 win in an afternoon game at Dodger Stadium.

Reporting from San Francisco -- Well, you can't win 'em all. The Dodgers received a shellacking Sunday, as Hiroki Kuroda was ineffective and the bullpen was downright awful in an 8-1 defeat to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. The loss was the Dodgers' first in six days. Plagued with command problems, Kuroda gave up three runs and eight hits in a season-low 42/3 innings. Considering how he pitched, the damage could have been far worse. Kuroda said the neck problems that bothered him in previous seasons have resurfaced in recent weeks.