Staring Lineup Game 2 Dodgers vs Cubs @ Wrigley Field
Dodgers:
Furcal. SS
Martin. C
Ramirez. LF
Ethier. RF
Loney. 1B
Kemp. CF
DeWitt. 2B
Blake. 3B
Billingsley. RHP
Cubs:
Soriano. LF
Theriot. SS
Lee. 1B
Ramirez. 3B
DeRosa. 2B
Edmonds. CF
Soto. C
Fukudome. RF
Zambrano. RHP
The Dodgers set club NLDS single-game records last night in runs (7) and walks (8) while tying the team’s NLDS single-game record for homers (3).
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS – With last night’s win, the Dodgers are 3-5 against the Cubs this season. However, all five Dodger losses were by two runs or less, whereas the three Dodger victories were all by three or more runs.
AND THE DODGERS INCH AHEAD… – Not only do the Dodgers have a 1-0 lead in the series, but last night’s win gives them a one-game edge in the 118-year, 2,025-game all-time series. The two franchises first played each other on May 29, 1890 in Brooklyn and since then, the Dodgers have a 1,013-1,012 record.
BEST OF FIVE – The Dodgers have played 11 best-of-five series in their postseason history and have won Game 1 in just three of those series. In all three cases, the Dodgers went on to win the series (the NLCS in 1974, 1978, and 1981). Two other times, the Dodgers overcame a Game 1 defeat to still win the series (the NLCS in 1977 and the NLDS in 1981) and five times they lost the first game and went on to lose the series.
MANNY LONGBALLS – Last night, Manny Ramirez hit his 25th postseason home run and 15 of them have come on the road. Both of those totals are Major League records. He also holds the all-time record for Division Series homers with 11. Ramirez has hit safely in 36 of his last 41 postseason games, with a .344 (54-for-157) average during that span.
HAVING A GRAND OL’ TIME – Last night, James Loney hit the 17th grand slam in NLDS history. It was the third slam in Dodger postseason history and first since Dusty Baker on Oct. 5, 1977 in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Phillies. The only other postseason slam for the Dodgers came the previous night in Game 1 of that series when Ron Cey hit one in the seventh inning off Steve Carlton.
‘PEN IS MIGHTIER – A trio of Dodger relievers pitched 3.0 scoreless innings last night, including Greg Maddux’s first relief appearance since saving Game 5 of the NLCS at San Diego on Oct. 12, 1998. The Dodger bullpen ranked second in the NL this season with a 3.33 ERA behind the Phillies (3.19).
A BIG DAY FOR Ks – On this date in 1953, Carl Erskine struck out a World Series record 14 Yankees in Game 3. Ten years later to the day, Sandy Koufax broke the record with 15 strikeouts over the Yankees in Game 1 of the Fall Classic and exactly two years after that, he fanned 13 Milwaukee Braves on two days rest (including Joe Torre twice) to give him 382 for the season, earning his 26th win and clinching the NL pennant.
FOOTING THE BILLS – Tonight’s starter Chad Billingsley ranked fifth in the NL with 201 strikeouts and seventh with a 3.14 ERA this season. From June 17 through the end of the regular season, he went 12-3 with a 2.78 ERA, which tied him for the most wins in baseball during that period with Mark Buehrle, A.J. Burnett, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and CC Sabathia. At just 24 years of age, Billingsley became the youngest Dodger to notch 16 victories since Ramon Martinez won 17 as a 23-year-old in 1991.
ALL SOLD OUT – Game 3 and 4 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium are officially sold out.
