updated 1:51 a.m. ET Sept. 14, 2007

LOS ANGELES - David Wells got just what he wanted — a shot at the San Diego Padres.

He made the most of it.

Wells burned his former team by beating Greg Maddux in a matchup of 40-something pitchers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Diego 6-3 on Thursday night to move within 1½ games of the Padres in the NL wild-card race.

Released by the Padres last month, Wells (8-8) allowed four hits and three runs in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. He also had two hits off Maddux for the first multihit game of his 21-year career.

“They gave up on me, I didn’t give up on myself,” said the portly 44-year-old left-hander, who went 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in his last four starts for the Padres before being designated for assignment on Aug. 9, and released four days later.

“I threw poorly. I can’t blame them,” Wells said. “It’s nice to go out there against them and pitch solid. I know what I’m doing out there, it’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.

“I’ve never doubted my ability to pitch. I’ll take the ball any given day — I enjoy it. I love the game.”

Wells was 5-8 with a 5.54 ERA for the Padres. He’s 3-0 with a 3.75 ERA in four starts since joining the Dodgers on Aug. 24.

The Dodgers won the final two games of their three-game series against the Padres thanks mainly to the excellent pitching of Wells and Chad Billingsley and James Loney’s timely hitting.

Philadelphia also trails San Diego by 1½ games, and Colorado is 2½ back. The second-place Padres trail NL West-leading Arizona by four games and Los Angeles is 5½ behind. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks begin a three-game series Friday night.

The Padres had only two baserunners in the first five innings against Wells, who earned his 238th career victory. He tired in the sixth, but the Dodgers had the game well in hand.

“Boomer has a lot of self-confidence,” Maddux said. “There’s nothing he can’t do if he puts his mind to it. He’s the kind of pitcher who can step it up a notch when he has to.”

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Scott Proctor, Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito each pitched a perfect inning, with Saito striking out two in the ninth for his 38th save in 41 chances.

The last player older than Wells to have his first career multihit game was Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige, who was 45 when he did it in 1952, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I’ll keep a little clipping. I’ll clip it out,” Wells said with a smile, referring to the box score.

Maddux (12-10) entered having allowed three runs or fewer in 11 straight starts, but that streak ended decisively as the Dodgers scored six runs on 10 hits in Maddux’s 3 1-3 innings — his shortest stint of the season.

The 41-year-old right-hander, a winner of 345 games to rank ninth on baseball’s career list, did extend his streak of not walking a batter to nine starts and 57 2-3 innings. The loss snapped a personal five-game winning streak.

“They hit a few balls pretty good and a few balls that found some holes,” Maddux said. “When you combine it, it looks bad. But you kind of let it go and tip your hat. They were better tonight.”

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