LA Dodgers (34-16) at Chi Cubs (24-23)

TV: FOX | Radio: KABC 790, KHJ 930 4:10 pm ET Wrigley Field TV: FOX | Radio: WGN 720
la

Stults to start at Wrigley with bum thumb

Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
In Saturday's nationally televised FOX game of the week, the Dodgers send Eric Stults to the mound against the Cubs, and it might be his last start for a while.
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Dodgers probable pitcher

Eric Stults

  • #50 LHP
  • (4-1) 4.29 ERA 27 SO
Stults, making his first start since suffering a jammed thumb on May 15 against the Marlins, failed to pitch past the fifth inning his last time out and did not get a decision. Stults had difficulty with his command as he walked seven in 4 1/3 innings against the Rockies. In one previous start at Wrigley Field in 2007, Stults went 4 1/3 innings and gave up four runs, three earned, and eight hits in taking the loss.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 8-8 4.66 137.0 60 92 .273
Season 4-1 4.29 42.0 23 27 .253
May 2-0 3.38 24.0 11 16 .200

Series at a Glance

Standings - 05/30/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West) 34 16 .680 - 18-5 16-11
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 24 23 .511 3.5 15-9 9-14
Stats - 05/30/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
LAD .289 279 35 264 41 335 3.70 448.0 382 209 375
CHC .249 209 53 198 22 351 4.32 408.2 374 184 379
chc

Bottom's up: Lower lineup must produce

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
The Cubs need the bottom of the order to pick the team up. With Aramis Ramirez out until the first week of July, somebody has to pick up the slack. Lou Piniella doesn't think all the pressure should be put on the middle of the order.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Ryan Dempster

  • #46 RHP
  • (3-3) 4.99 ERA 52 SO
Dempster had trouble with his command in his last start against the Pirates and gave up six runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings. It was his shortest outing of the season, and first time he did not go at least six innings. The runs also were a season high. This will be Dempster's first game against the Dodgers since Game 1 of the National League Division Series, when he walked seven over 4 2/3 innings. The Dodgers had a patient approach against Dempster. It will be interesting to see if they take that same approach this time.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 79-84 4.57 1486.1 733 1246 .261
Season 3-3 4.99 61.1 26 52 .252
May 2-2 4.60 31.1 12 27 .250

Dodgers hitters vs Ryan Dempster

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Blake, Casey - - - - .000 3 0 0
De Jesus, Ivan - - - - - - - -
DeWitt, Blake - - - - .200 5 0 0
Ellis, A.J. - - - - - - - -
Ethier, Andre - - - - .412 17 1 3
Furcal, Rafael - - - - .000 11 0 0
Hu, Chin-lung - - - - .500 2 0 1
Kemp, Matt - - - - .200 10 0 0
Loney, James - - - - .143 7 0 0
Martin, Russell - - - - .250 12 0 1
May, Lucas - - - - - - - -
Paul, Xavier - - - - - - - -
Pierre, Juan - - - - .364 11 0 1
Ramirez, Manny - - - - .250 4 0 1
Repko, Jason - - - - - - - -
Robinson, Trayvon - - - - - - - -

Cubs hitters vs Eric Stults

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - .500 12 1 3
Blanco, Andres - - - - - - - -
Bradley, Milton - - - - .400 5 0 0
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike - - - - .500 6 0 2
Fox, Jake - - - - - - - -
Fukudome, Kosuke - - - - - - - -
Fuld, Sam - - - - .000 3 0 1
Hill, Koyie - - - - .333 6 0 0
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - .143 7 0 1
Lee, Derrek - - - - .333 3 0 0
Miles, Aaron - - - - .000 3 0 0
Ramirez, Aramis - - - - .500 2 1 2
Soriano, Alfonso - - - - .200 5 0 0
Soto, Geovany - - - - .375 8 0 1
Theriot, Ryan - - - - .000 1 0 0

Dempster dazzles despite dinged digit (34-17) (25-23)

Cubs 7, Dodgers 0

Bats lose spark

Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
On a tear entering this series, the Dodgers were shut out for the first time all season and endured their worst loss of 2009 a day after scoring one run in the opener at Wrigley Field. Matt Kemp had two of Los Angeles' five hits, which wasn't enough to pick up southpaw Eric Stults, who lasted just three-plus innings of four-run ball.

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Series at a Glance

 
Ryan Dempster allowed just two doubles and a single in seven frames. (AP)

Righty in command

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
The Dodgers used seven walks to beat Ryan Dempster in Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS, but Saturday, Dempster allowed one walk and three hits in seven shutout frames, all while pitching with a middle finger blister. The Cubs provided clutch hits, including Reed Johnson's squeeze bunt and Mike Fontenot's RBI triple.
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Cubs 7, Dodgers 0

LA Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Pierre, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .384
Furcal, SS 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .240
Hudson, O, 2B 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 .335
Loney, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .286
Ethier, RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .257
Martin, C 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .265
Loretta, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .306
Kemp, CF 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 .302
Stults, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .071
  Mota, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Ausmus, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .344
  Weaver, Jf, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143
  Leach, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Hoffmann, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .273
  Wade, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 30 0 5 0 2 5 10  

a-Grounded out for Mota in the 5th. b-Grounded into a double play for Leach in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Martin (9, Dempster), Ethier (11, Dempster).
TB: Furcal; Ethier 2; Martin 2; Kemp 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Loretta 2; Ethier.
GIDP: Hoffmann; Loney.
Team RISP: 0-for-5.
Team LOB: 5.

FIELDING
DP: 3 (Hudson, O-Furcal-Loney 2, Furcal-Loney).
 
Chi Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Soriano, A, LF 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 .246
Theriot, SS 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 .288
Bradley, RF 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 .223
Lee, D, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .246
Johnson, Re, CF 3 2 3 2 1 0 0 .270
Soto, C 2 0 0 1 2 0 3 .215
Scales, 2B 3 1 0 0 1 1 4 .250
  Blanco, A, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111
Fontenot, 3B 3 1 2 2 1 0 0 .230
Dempster, P 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 .080
  Guzman, A, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Hoffpauir, M, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .284
  Heilman, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 29 7 10 6 7 7 14  

a-Struck out for Guzman, A in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Fontenot (7, Stults), Lee, D (8, Weaver, Jf).
3B: Fontenot (1, Stults).
HR: Johnson, Re (3, 7th inning off Weaver, Jf, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Theriot; Bradley 3; Lee, D 2; Johnson, Re 6; Fontenot 5.
RBI: Fontenot 2 (20), Johnson, Re 2 (12), Theriot (22), Soto (12).
2-out RBI: Fontenot; Johnson, Re; Theriot.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dempster 2; Soto.
GIDP: Scales 2; Bradley.
Team RISP: 3-for-9.
Team LOB: 6.

BASERUNNING
SB: Johnson, Re (1, 2nd base off Stults/Martin).
CS: Theriot (3, 2nd base by Mota/Martin).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Fontenot-Blanco, A-Lee, D, Blanco, A-Theriot-Lee, D).
 
LA Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Stults (L, 4-2) 3.0 6 4 4 2 3 0 4.80
Mota 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7.11
Weaver, Jf 2.1 3 3 3 5 2 1 4.38
Leach 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.70
Wade 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.40
 
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Dempster (W, 4-3) 7.0 3 0 0 1 5 0 4.48
Guzman, A 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.82
Heilman 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4.98

Stults pitched to 2 batters in the 4th.

IBB: Fontenot (by Weaver, Jf).
HBP: Theriot (by Stults).
Pitches-strikes: Stults 55-30, Mota 14-8, Weaver, Jf 59-32, Leach 3-2, Wade 10-7, Dempster 99-63, Guzman, A 11-8, Heilman 24-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Stults 1-4, Mota 1-0, Weaver, Jf 4-1, Leach 2-0, Wade 2-0, Dempster 7-9, Guzman, A 3-0, Heilman 3-0.
Batters faced: Stults 17, Mota 3, Weaver, Jf 13, Leach 1, Wade 3, Dempster 25, Guzman, A 3, Heilman 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Mota 1-1, Leach 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jeff Kellogg. 1B: Rob Drake. 2B: Mark Wegner. 3B: Tim Timmons.
Weather: 73 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to CF.
T: 2:46.
Att: 41,153.
May 30, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner