It’s becoming clear to the Dodgers that they’re running out of time to turn things around even if major league baseball has yet to reach the All-Star break.

“We can’t wait, we’ve got to do it now,” center fielder Matt Kemp said Wednesday after the Cincinnati Reds rocked Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley to win, 7-2, and complete a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.

Asked whether the Dodgers were feeling pressure to rebound, Kemp said, “There’s no pressure. It just has to happen.”

The Dodgers (31-39) have lost six of their last eight games and are eight games below .500 for the first time this season.


“We’re going to have to make a move” in the standings, Manager Don Mattingly said, “and if we don’t, it’s going to be a long summer for us.”

Cincinnati’s sweep was particularly frustrating for the Dodgers because they had just won two high-scoring games against the Colorado Rockies in Denver and seemed to have built some momentum.

But their offense largely faded once the Reds arrived and, Wednesday, the Dodgers’ starting pitching faltered when Cincinnati celebrated Reds Manager Dusty Baker’s 62nd birthday by attacking Billingsley.

Billingsley (5-6) gave up seven runs and nine hits in four innings, which required 88 pitches. He walked four.


More worrisome for the Dodgers, it was the second consecutive game in which Billingsley was hit hard. The right-hander gave up six runs and a career-high 13 hits in 42/3 innings Friday in a loss to the Rockies.

“Bills is going to have to get himself right,” Mattingly said. “You got to make pitches.”

Third baseman Scott Rolen slugged three hits against Billingsley, including two doubles, to drive in three runs in front of 30,443 on a Dodgers “throwback day,” with the teams wearing uniforms from the 1940s.

But Kemp said his confidence in Billingsley was unshaken.


“He’s an All-Star pitcher, he’s going to bounce back,” Kemp said.

It was Reds starter Travis Wood who appeared shaky in the first inning, issuing a bases-loaded walk to Marcus Thames to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

But Wood (5-4) escaped further damage and held the Dodgers scoreless after that. He gave up five hits in his six innings.

The Dodgers scored in the seventh inning against Jose Arredondo when Jamey Carroll singled, moved to third base on Kemp’s double and scored when Juan Uribe grounded out.


The Dodgers had runners on first and second with two out in the third inning when James Loney hit a sinking line drive to the left-field corner. But left fielder Jonny Gomes made a diving catch to quash the threat.

The Dodgers are off Thursday before opening a three-game series with the Houston Astros on Friday at Chavez Ravine.

james.peltz@latimes.com