The Dodgers beat the Cubs to complete the sweep and move on to the NLCS.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Rich Harden took the loss, he goes 0-1 in the NLDS. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 1st save of the NLDS.
Hiroki Kuroda continued his good pitching against the Cubs. He went 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out four over that span. Cory Wade pitching 1.1 innings in relief, allowing a run. Jonathan Broxton struck out three in his 1.1 innings of work to close out the game and pick up the save.
Offensively, James Loney drove in two important runs. Despite going 3-14 in the series, he collected six RBIs. He went 1-4 in the game, but the one hit was a two RBI double. Russell Martin had a similar series. Martin went 2-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. He went 4-13 with a homerun, three doubles, and five RBIs in the series. Finally, Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with two walks and a run scored in the game. He had a good series as well. He went 5-10 with two homeruns, three RBIs, four walks, and five runs scored.
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers today to win their series 3-1. The Dodgers will face off against the Phillies now in the NLCS for a chance to go to the World Series. They split eight games (4-4) in the regular season.
Opinion: That's how you handle business. Bury the Cubs. Don't even give them a chance to come back. Now use this momentum. Carry it on to the NLCS against the Phillies. One down, two to go... I was at the game last night, and it was pretty amazing. You can feel the energy radiating through the stadium. Every strike, every out, every hit, was met with cheering and applause. There is a constant level of noise that grows to be ten times as loud as the game goes on. When Broxton was pitching the 9th, the stadium was as loud as I've ever heard it. There's camaraderie. You are high-fiving and yelling and celebrating with people you've never met before. It's pretty amazing... One more thing, I'm really tired of all the sports writers who say Dodger fans leave the game early. 
Dodger fans don't leave the game early. The people who leave the game early aren't Dodger fans. Dodger fans stay till the very end of the game. Dodger fans are the people who show up for a playoff game. Dodger Stadium was filled with 56,000 fans yesterday. And 56,000 fans stayed till the very last pitch, and most stayed even after that. Real Dodger fans don't leave the game early to beat traffic. They don't leave in the 7th inning. So stop refering to Dodger fans as people who leave the game before it's over. Call them "Game Attendees" or something like that, but don't insult real Dodger fans by calling them so. I, and all the other fans, are tired of it.
The Dodgers, thanks in part to some Cubs errors, beat the Cubs to take the second game of the series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Carlos Zambrano took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLDS.
Chad Billingsley gave up only one run over 6.2 innings. He gave up only five hits and a walk over that span, while striking out seven. Cory Wade followed with 1.1 scoreless innings. Takashi Saito came in to start the 9th and gave up two runs without recording an out. Jonathan Broxton had to come in to relieve Saito and retired the side, collecting two strikeouts.
Several Dodgers had good games at the plate. Seven of the nine Dodgers in the starting lineup reached base by hit or walk. Rafael Furcal went 3-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Russel Martin went 1-5 with a double and three RBIs. Finally, Casey Blake went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
With the win, the Dodgers go up 2-0 in the series. They'll try for a sweep and a trip to the NLCS on Saturday, at Dodger Stadium. The game starts at 7:05 L.A. time.
Opinion: I was really only hoping for at least a win in this first two games. We got two. We've really flashed the offense: 17 runs in two games. We've also had some pretty good pitching, holding the potent Cubs offense to five runs. We've now won twice as many playoff games as our total since 1988. I say we go for triple. I'm heading to the game Saturday, my first playoff game ever. Hopefully, I'll get to see a clinch. Let's keep our fingers crossed...
The Dodgers use the long-ball to beat the Cubs and go up 1-0 in the series.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Ryan Dempster took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLDS.
Derek Lowe went six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out six. He had an uncharacteristically high pitch count, but still got a quality start out of his outing. Cory Wade, Jonathan Broxton, and Greg Maddux each pitched a scoreless inning in relief to keep the Cubs to two runs.
The Dodger offense started slow, but heated up. After not scoring in the first four innings, including leaving the bases loaded at the end of the 3rd inning. A similar situation seemed to be rearing it's head in the 5th. 
The bases were loaded with two outs when James Loney stepped to the plate. He quickly fell in the hole with two strikes on him, before drawing a few more pitches, then stroking a grand slam homerun into the left-center bleachers to put the Dodgers up 4-2. They wouldn't look back from there. Manny Ramírez hit a solo homerun in the 7th (Manny went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and two runs scored), Casey Blake singled in Blake DeWitt in the 8th (DeWitt went 2-4 with a double and a run scored), and Russell Martin added a solo homerun in the 9th. Every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once.
The Dodgers get the all important win in the first game of the series. Game 2 in the series starts tomorrow at 6:37 (?) L.A. time.
Opinion: Wow, seriously good win for the Dodgers. They really sent a message that they are a serious contender. 
They came into an opponent's stadium, filled with loud hungry fans, facing a pitcher who's been excellent at home all season, and they pulled out a strong victory. Also, most importantly, this was the win they needed. To win the series, they needed at least one win on the road, and now they've got it. Not that they should leave it all to winning the home games, but they got the road win. Now, just to be safe, let's get another one tomorrow...
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Rich Harden took the loss, he goes 0-1 in the NLDS. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 1st save of the NLDS.
Offensively, James Loney drove in two important runs. Despite going 3-14 in the series, he collected six RBIs. He went 1-4 in the game, but the one hit was a two RBI double. Russell Martin had a similar series. Martin went 2-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. He went 4-13 with a homerun, three doubles, and five RBIs in the series. Finally, Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with two walks and a run scored in the game. He had a good series as well. He went 5-10 with two homeruns, three RBIs, four walks, and five runs scored.
Dodger fans don't leave the game early. The people who leave the game early aren't Dodger fans. Dodger fans stay till the very end of the game. Dodger fans are the people who show up for a playoff game. Dodger Stadium was filled with 56,000 fans yesterday. And 56,000 fans stayed till the very last pitch, and most stayed even after that. Real Dodger fans don't leave the game early to beat traffic. They don't leave in the 7th inning. So stop refering to Dodger fans as people who leave the game before it's over. Call them "Game Attendees" or something like that, but don't insult real Dodger fans by calling them so. I, and all the other fans, are tired of it.
