Oct 2, 2008 11:39 am US/Pacific
Dodgers Face The Unpredictable "Big Z" In Game Two
CHICAGO (AP) ―
If the Chicago Cubs ever needed Carlos Zambrano to solve his late-season woes and post his first career playoff win, now is the time.
Zambrano will try to help the Cubs snap a long postseason skid, and avoid an 0-2 hole as they meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of their National League division series on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs led the NL with 97 wins - 55 coming at home - during the regular season, but their quest to snap a 100-year World Series championship drought got off to a rocky start with a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday.
Los Angeles hit three homers en route to handing the Cubs their seventh straight postseason loss. James Loney's grand slam in the fifth inning off Ryan Dempster gave the Dodgers the lead for good, Manny Ramirez added to his major league record with his 25th career postseason homer in the sixth and Russell Martin had a solo shot in the ninth.
"It does lot for our confidence," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who's making his 13th straight postseason appearance. "We know how good Chicago is. We know how consistent they've been all year. And to have them get a lead and for us to just maintain our patience, it's important."
Mark DeRosa's two-run homer in the second gave the Cubs the early lead, but neither Alfonso Soriano nor rookie Kosuke Fukudome were able to generate any sort of momentum from the top of the order.
Chicago managed to outhit the Dodgers 9-8 but Soriano, batting from his customary leadoff spot, was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. Fukudome went 0-for-4 with one strikeout.
"Well," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said, "it's Game 1 only. Let's hope we get better with it. We need to swing the bats, no question."
The Cubs haven't had a postseason win since Game 4 of the 2003 NL championship series against Florida. Chicago went on to lose the final three games of that series, including the infamous Steve Bartman incident in Game 6, and was also swept by Arizona in an NLDS last year.
Dempster, who had 14 of his team-high 17 wins at home this year, tied a career high by walking seven in 4 2-3 innings.
Now, Chicago turns to Zambrano (14-6, 3.91 ERA), who must avoid another loss to quiet any talk of a Cubs curse. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 4.37 ERA in four career playoff starts, but has gotten only nine runs of support to work with.
"Sometimes experience don't count, you know? There's people that have a lot of experience in the playoffs and still haven't performed as good," Zambrano said. "Just, like I said, if you prepare and you attack the opponent and you come to the ballpark ready and you play good, you're going to win that day."
A bigger question is which Zambrano will show up. He threw the first no-hitter by a Cubs pitcher in 36 years on Sept. 14 against Houston in a game moved to Milwaukee due to Hurricane Ike. In his final two starts after that, he went 0-1 with an 18.47 ERA.
Zambrano didn't seem worried about this struggles down the stretch.
"It's in the past. This is a new age, new stage for the Cubs, new ballgame, new team. And I just have to go out there and try to do my job and have fun," he said.
Zambrano went 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA two starts versus the Dodgers this season, allowing 19 hits in 14 2-3 innings. Over three career starts at Wrigley Field versus Los Angeles, he's 0-2 with a 5.12 ERA.
Ramirez, who batted .396 and had 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 games with the Dodgers after coming over in a trade, is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his career versus Zambrano.
"I'm just being Manny," Ramirez said. "That's it."
Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14), meanwhile, will make his first career playoff start for Los Angeles.
Billingsley finished strong over the final five weeks this season, and led the Dodgers in wins in only his third year in the majors. Over his final five starts, the right-hander was 4-0 with a 3.30 ERA, but also allowed opponents to hit .303 over that stretch.
The right-hander appeared in two games of a 2006 NL division series against the New York Mets, allowing one hit in a total of two innings.
His only two career starts against the Cubs came this season, and he was 0-1 with 4.91 ERA. The loss came on May 26 at Wrigley Field, where he allowed two runs and four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in a 3-1 loss.
The series will shift to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Saturday night.
Notes
The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up the franchise's second win in a playoff game since 1988, a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. ... 1B James Loney appeared in his second career playoff game and hit his first homer, a grand slam in the fifth inning that proved to be the difference. LF Manny Ramirez hit his 25th career postseason homer in the seventh. He ranks first on the all-time list, three ahead of former New York Yankee Bernie Williams. ... RHP Greg Maddux pitched the ninth inning for the Dodgers, making his 33rd career postseason appearance.
RHP Ryan Dempster started Game One of the National League Division Series and tied a career high with seven walks in 4 2/3 innings. ... 2B Mark DeRosa played his 17th career postseason game and clubbed his first homer - a two-run blast in the second. ... The Game One winner has won 24 of 28 NLDS matchups. ... The Cubs, who were swept out of the NLDS by the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, have not won a World Series since 1908.
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