Billingsley finds stride as reliever

It was an outing emblematic of his first 6 1/2 weeks as a full-time reliever.

In the sixth inning of an April 27 appearance against the San Diego Padres, Chad Billingsley gave up four hits and three runs. In the seventh, he struck out the side.

Billingsley looks back at his second inning of that game as a turning point in his emergence as the latest dependable Dodgers reliever. Two days later, he pitched two scoreless innings to record a victory and start a current stretch of six consecutive scoreless appearances spanning 9 2/3 innings in which he has struck out 16 and walked five.

The right-hander credited his turnaround from a slow start in part to a mechanical adjustment he made while working with bullpen coach Dan Warthen. Billingsley said he fixed a flaw in which his “arm angle was a little too far over the top compared to where it usually was at the three-quarters slot.”

Hitters are the ones who now must adjust to Billingsley, who has 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings and ranks among the major league leaders with 10.97 strikeouts per nine innings.

“Times are good right now,” Billingsley said.

Catcher Russell Martin, Billingsley’s battery mate for much of his minor league career, said he has seen his teammate revert to his previously dominant form over the last several weeks.

“He’s the pitcher I’ve caught all through the minors,” Martin said of Billingsley, who is 2-0 with a 3.80 earned-run average in 14 appearances. “The last couple of outings, that’s the guy.”

Billingsley had been a starter almost exclusively before this season, making only four of his 96 professional appearances in relief. He acknowledged that the transition to the bullpen has been challenging.

“It was a big adjustment to go through to always come to the field mentally prepared that you’re going to pitch,” Billingsley said. “When I first started off it was a little difficult.”

Billingsley, 22, does not conceal his desire to return to the starting rotation. He would be among the Dodgers’ top candidates to make a spot start or replace a struggling starter. Manager Grady Little said building Billingsley’s stamina to the point where he could start again “would take just a couple of games. This guy has been a starter his whole life.”

But for now, he’s content to remain in the bullpen, where he said he can gain valuable experience by studying hitters.

“There have been many great starting pitchers who started their careers in the bullpen,” Billingsley said. “This is not what I want to do for my career.”

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Luis Gonzalez, in his first season as a Dodger after 17 seasons with four other teams, said he immediately sensed the intensity of the Dodgers-San Francisco Giants rivalry.

Dodgers-Angels? Not so much.

“I felt that when we played the Giants,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t know so much about Anaheim. I think if you ask most guys it’s just another three-game set. We’re going to go out there and try to play well and win those games.”

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Little said he probably would use Olmedo Saenz as the designated hitter against the Angels this weekend at Angel Stadium, though Wilson Betemit has put himself in contention to be used there as well when he’s not in the lineup as the starting third baseman.

Betemit has hit all four of his home runs during a stretch in which he has hit .438 in 16 at-bats since May 5, raising his average from .125 to .194. Three of the homers have come as a pinch-hitter.

“He’s a valuable part of this team,” Little said. “There’s enough playing time for everybody.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com