The Dodgers went through every possible emotion on Saturday in Wrigley Field: doubt when finding themselves down 5-1, hope when tying the game at 5, happiness when up 8-5, and ultimately agony when blowing it all in the eighth. The end result was a Cubs' win, 10-8.
The Cubs got the scoring started in the first off of old friend Ted Lilly. Starlin Castro, who collected four hits on the day, singled off the wall in left, but was gunned out by Jerry Sands at second. That would be the end of the good day in the field for Sands, as he would later misplay a couple of fly balls. Darwin Barney doubled after that, and soon scored on Aramis Ramirez's sac-fly RBI for the 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Dodgers tied it for a little while. With one out, Casey Blake walked and went to second on Andre Ethier's groundout. Matt Kemp came through again with an RBI single to make the game even again.
Lilly never really looked comfortable in this one, and it showed in the third and fourth. He was lucky to avoid series trouble in the third, as Barney's RBI single gave the Cubs the lead against at 2-1. Marlon Byrd also reached base on a single, but both men were stranded with one out.
The luck would not be the same the next inning, as Geovany Soto singled leading off. Reed Johnson hit an RBI double and went to third on Kemp's fielding error. Castro and Barney struck again with consecutive RBI singles to make the lead 5-1.
With the wind whipping all over the place, the Dodgers took advantage in the fifth. Aaron Miles was the leadoff hitter today and singled. Blake then lined a two-run homer to left. An out later, Kemp hit his fifth of the year, and it was now 5-4.
The sixth inning was just as nice, as the Dodgers tacked on three more to take the lead. Big Rod Barajas started the inning with a solo shot, his fourth of the season, and the game was now 5-5. Two more men reached base as Tony Gwynn pinch-hit and tripled past a clumsy Alfonso Soriano in left, and Blake walked. Left Sean Marshall was brought in to pitch to Ethier, but Ethier ripped a two-run double, making it 7-5. That hit extended his streak to 20 straight.
It looked like the Dodgers were going to cruise to another victory in the seventh. Sands singled leading off, stole second, and went to third on Soto's bad throw. Barajas collected another RBI with a sac-fly, and it was 8-5. Matt Guerrier, by far the best reliever for the Dodgers so far, mowed through the bottom of the inning with ease.
Since Guerrier barely threw any pitches, and with Hong-Chih Kuo still on the DL, he went back out to get through the eighth. Well... it didn't work. Instead, the Cubs rocked him for five runs on four hits. For whatever reason, his stuff wasn't fooling anyone, as the 8-5 advantage quickly disappeared into a 10-8 deficit.
That little Castro dude chipped in again with a two-run single. The game became tied at 8 on Barney's RBI groundout. Blake Hawksworth entered to try and get Jeff Baker for the third out, but Baker instead laced a two-run double to regain the lead.
Carlos Marmol only gave up a walk to Sands to earn his fifth save.
The recent run of great starts by the Dodgers' starting rotation ended at six with Lilly's dud. I'm not sure if the wind was getting to him or the emotions of returning to Chicago, but whatever the case, his stuff looked flat. He didn't get the loss thanks to the comeback in the middle innings, but ended up with 4 1/3 innings pitched for 11 hits, five runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.
For Guerrier, his run of nine straight appearances to start the season without a run came to a crashing halt. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but still, I didn't think it would be five runs in 1 2/3 innings. But I'm not worried about him.
It was good to see Vicente Padilla get his first action of the season. He pitched a perfect inning in the sixth with one strikeout. His role will be in long relief, so expect to see him increase his workload as time goes by. He's a great option for a couple innings of some nasty stuff.
I'll give the offense plenty of credit for fighting back. If this game took place at the start of the season, I think the Cubs would've won easily. Even without the recently hot Juan Uribe today, who sat out with tightness in his right thigh, the bats collected 11 hits. The big difference was that the Dodgers got two hits with runners in scoring position, but the Cubs had six.
The rubber match of the three-game set with be Sunday afternoon on TBS. Hiroki Kuroda will take on Carlos Zambrano.
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