Dodgers Sweep Away Cubs' Hopes
Dodgers 3, Cubs 1

By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 6, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- Reprinted from washingtonpost.com

The signs proclaim "It's Gonna Happen." And maybe, one glorious day this millennia, it will. But after falling, 3-1, to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs will spend this winter the same way they have a hundred times before -- longing for a world championship.

After emerging as arguably the best team in the National League, Chicago ended its season by playing three of its worst games of the year in the National League Divisional Series. The Dodgers, underestimated all season, played perhaps their three best.

James Loney delivered another clutch hit -- adding a two-run, first-inning double to his Game 1 grand slam -- to give the Dodgers the early lead. Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda took care of the rest, throwing 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, ensuring the sweep.

"It's going to be a long winter," said Cubs leadoff man Alfonso Soriano, who finished his awful series 0 for 5. "We had a very good team."

His advice to long-suffering Cubs fans?

"Be patient," said Soriano, the former Washington National who went 1 for 13 in the series.

Chicago finally scored in the eighth, pulling within two runs when pinch hitter Daryl Ward singled home Derrek Lee, who ran through a stop at third base to score. But Dodgers reliever Jonathon Broxton struck out Mark DeRosa to end the threat.

Broxton remained in the game for the ninth, delivering similar results to officially finish off the Cubs, who in their own typical style, closed the books on perhaps the most miserable century in the history of professional sports.

The Cubs hoped the change of scenery would provide an escape from the pall at Wrigley Field. And indeed, Dodger Stadium provided a different vibe.

On a cool Southern California night, a sellout crowd of 56,560 waved white towels given out at the gates. When the face of funnyman Vince Vaughn flashed on the giant video board -- he was wearing a Cubs hat -- the crowd booed. An inning later, when franchise icon Fernando Valenzuela graced the screen, they cheered.

The environment, however, did little to alter Chicago's lowly fate.

Chicago once again didn't bother to show up at the plate. And after scoring just one run on Saturday, Chicago was outscored 20-6 by Los Angeles in the series.

"Let me tell you this," Cubs Manager Lou Piniella said. "You can play postseason between now and another hundred years. If you score six runs in a three-game series, it's going to be another hundred years before you win here. So we've got to score more runs, that's it, period."

Before the game, Piniella drew from his memories as a player to caution against pressing.

Playing for the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series, Piniella recalls facing the legendary Valenzuela with two runners on. After working the count to 3-1 against Valenzuela, Piniella doomed himself.

"I wasn't a home run hitter; I was more of a gap hitter," he said. "I said, 'I'm going to crowd the plate and hit a home run.' Well, he threw me a screwball and I hit a nice double play ball where if I had just done what I had done all year and stayed within myself and hit the ball to right-center field, we probably would have scored a couple runs and given our pitchers some runs to work with."

The moral of the story: "You can't try to overdo."

But overdo, they did.

Chicago looked to start a rally in the fourth inning when Geovany Soto led off with a double down the left field line, then advanced to third on Jim Edmonds's grounder to the right side. But with one out -- and the Cubs needing just a fly ball or even a grounder to the right side to get on the board -- DeRosa grounded out to third base on the first pitch.

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre called for the intentional walk of Ryan Theriot, bringing pitcher Rich Harden to the plate. Harden, just 2 for 23 this year, struck out on a meek swing, ending the rally.

In the seventh, the Cubs put runners on first and third. But Soriano flew out on the first pitch he saw. Mike Fontenot then lined out to center, though for an instant, it appeared that center fielder Matt Kemp misplayed the ball.

Indeed, it was night of bad luck for the Cubs, who were bad enough on their without the baseball gods working against them, too.

Bad break No. 1 came in the first inning when Russell Martin barely avoided being thrown out at third base while trying to advance on Manny Ramírez's single through the hole. Left fielder Soriano came up throwing, and fired a strike to Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramírez.

Third base umpire Larry Reynolds appeared to miss the call.

Bad break No. 2 came one batter later. Loney rifled a two-run double down the right field line, allowing Manny Ramírez to score all the way form first.

Ramírez, who isn't destined for Cooperstown because of his base running, hustled all the way, losing his helmet as he rounded third. Fontenot's relay beat Ramírez to the plate, but the throw was so far up the third base line, that it put Ramírez out of catcher Soto's reach. Dodgers 2, Cubs 0.

Bad break No. 3 arrived in the fifth, when Martin's RBI double to make it 3-0 settled at the base of the left field wall, making it that much easier for Rafael Furcal to score from first base.

The breaks added up to allow the Dodgers to celebrate their first victory in a playoff series since winning the World Series in 1988.

As the stadium shook and the Dodgers mobbed Broxton at the mound, dejected Cubs fans, comedian Jim Belushi among them, filed quietly out of the stadium, a ritual that has been passed down from generation to generation. Belushi kept his head down, a Cubs cap hiding his eyes except for one brief moment, when another Cubs fan offered his hand.

"Next year, Jim," the fan said.