LA Dodgers (34-17) at Chi Cubs (25-23)

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la

Milton feels like he belongs

Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
For a lefty with one Major League win in nearly three years, Eric Milton is feeling pretty confident going into Sunday night's start for the Dodgers against the Cubs.
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Dodgers probable pitcher

Eric Milton

  • #28 LHP
  • (1-0) 3.00 ERA 6 SO
In his second start since Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in 2007, left-hander Eric Milton was effective in five innings of work against the Rockies, allowing only a solo home run. He commanded all four pitches, particularly his curveball, and threw 58 of 82 pitches for strikes. If Opening Day starter Hiroki Kuroda doesn't return from his rehab assignment, Milton will pitch against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, where he's 3-1 with a 6.70 ERA in eight career starts.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 88-84 5.00 1567.2 451 1113 .266
Season 1-0 3.00 9.0 4 6 .257
May 1-0 3.00 9.0 4 6 .257

Series at a Glance

Standings - 05/31/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West) 34 17 .667 - 18-5 16-12
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 25 23 .521 3.5 16-9 9-14
Stats - 05/31/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
LAD .287 279 35 264 41 340 3.77 456.0 392 216 382
CHC .251 216 54 204 23 358 4.22 417.2 379 186 384
chc

Soto slowly snapping sophomore jinx

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
A year ago, Geovany Soto had nine home runs and 38 RBIs by the end of May. Entering Sunday's night game against the Dodgers, the Cubs catcher has one homer and 12 RBIs.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Sean Marshall

  • #45 LHP
  • (3-3) 3.70 ERA 29 SO
Marshall effectively changed speeds and had a good breaking ball in his last start, and picked up a win. He limited the Pirates to one run on four hits and two walks over five innings in a rain-shortened game. The lefty also struck out six. He did throw 86 pitches, and would like to be a little more efficient with his pitch count. The biggest surprise was Marshall's hitting. He notched a RBI single, and was batting .250.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 19-25 4.50 335.2 130 231 .262
Season 3-3 3.70 41.1 13 29 .253
May 3-2 4.03 22.1 7 14 .239

Dodgers hitters vs Sean Marshall

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Blake, Casey - - - - - - - -
De Jesus, Ivan - - - - - - - -
DeWitt, Blake - - - - - - - -
Ellis, A.J. - - - - - - - -
Ethier, Andre - - - - .000 2 0 1
Furcal, Rafael - - - - .250 8 1 2
Hu, Chin-lung - - - - .200 5 0 0
Kemp, Matt - - - - .250 4 1 2
Loney, James - - - - .600 5 0 2
Martin, Russell - - - - .333 6 0 1
May, Lucas - - - - - - - -
Paul, Xavier - - - - - - - -
Pierre, Juan - - - - .333 3 0 0
Ramirez, Manny - - - - - - - -
Repko, Jason - - - - .500 2 1 2
Robinson, Trayvon - - - - - - - -

Cubs hitters vs Eric Milton

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - - - - -
Blanco, Andres .250 4 0 1 .250 4 0 1
Bradley, Milton - - - - .333 12 1 1
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike - - - - .000 2 0 0
Fox, Jake .400 5 0 1 .333 6 0 1
Fukudome, Kosuke - - - - - - - -
Fuld, Sam .333 3 0 0 .333 3 0 0
Hill, Koyie - - - - - - - -
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - - - - -
Lee, Derrek - - - - .200 20 3 5
Miles, Aaron - - - - .222 9 0 0
Ramirez, Aramis - - - - .368 19 3 5
Soriano, Alfonso - - - - .000 2 0 0
Soto, Geovany - - - - .000 2 0 0
Theriot, Ryan - - - - .750 4 0 0

Early and often at Friendly Confines (35-17) (25-24)

Dodgers 8, Cubs 2

LA cruises in Chicago

Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
The Dodgers posted five runs in the first and didn't look back behind a solid Eric Milton, avoiding their first three-game losing streak of the season with ease in the series finale at Wrigley Field. James Loney went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Matt Kemp launched his sixth home run.

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Series at a Glance

 

Marshall gets hit early

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Sean Marshall allowed five singles before recording an out in the five-run first and exited in the fifth having allowed a season-high eight runs, and the Cubs couldn't recover. Reed Johnson, who went 3-for-4 Sunday and 8-for-12 in the series, drove in both Cubs runs in the sixth.
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Dodgers 8, Cubs 2

LA Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Pierre, LF 6 1 1 0 0 3 4 .374
Furcal, SS 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .245
Hudson, O, 2B 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 .332
Martin, C 3 2 2 0 2 0 0 .272
Loney, 1B 5 2 2 2 0 1 4 .289
Kemp, CF 4 1 2 1 1 2 4 .306
Loretta, 3B 4 0 2 2 1 1 1 .321
Hoffmann, RF 4 0 0 1 0 2 5 .200
Milton, P 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000
  Belisario, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Ausmus, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .344
  Troncoso, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Ethier, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .256
  Broxton, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 39 8 12 7 4 10 25  

a-Hit by pitch for Belisario in the 8th. b-Grounded into a forceout for Troncoso in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Loretta (3, Marshall), Loney (11, Marshall).
HR: Kemp (6, 3rd inning off Marshall, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Pierre; Furcal 2; Hudson, O; Martin 2; Loney 3; Kemp 5; Loretta 3.
RBI: Hudson, O (31), Loney 2 (38), Loretta 2 (10), Hoffmann (7), Kemp (30).
2-out RBI: Kemp.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Milton; Hoffmann 2; Loney 2; Pierre.
SF: Hoffmann.
Team RISP: 5-for-16.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Kemp (12, 2nd base off Ascanio/Soto), Martin (7, 2nd base off Patton, D/Soto).

FIELDING
Outfield assists: Hoffmann (Johnson, Re at home).
DP: (Hoffmann-Martin).
 
Chi Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Soriano, A, LF 4 0 1 0 1 2 0 .246
Theriot, SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 .293
Bradley, RF 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .224
Lee, D, 1B 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .248
Johnson, Re, CF 4 0 3 2 0 0 1 .295
Soto, C 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .216
Scales, 2B 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .239
  Waddell, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Hoffpauir, M, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .281
  Patton, D, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Marmol, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  c-Fukudome, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .309
  Gregg, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Fontenot, 3B-2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224
Marshall, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .231
  Ascanio, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Fox, J, PH-3B 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 .429
Totals 35 2 9 2 1 9 14  

a-Struck out for Ascanio in the 5th. b-Flied out for Waddell in the 6th. c-Struck out for Marmol in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Johnson, Re 2 (3, Milton, Milton), Soriano, A (11, Belisario).
TB: Soriano, A 2; Theriot 2; Bradley; Lee, D; Johnson, Re 5; Soto.
RBI: Johnson, Re 2 (14).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hoffpauir, M 2; Theriot; Fukudome.
Team RISP: 1-for-7.
Team LOB: 8.

FIELDING
E: Soto (2, throw), Marmol (2, fielding).
 
LA Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Milton (W, 2-0) 5.1 6 2 2 1 4 0 3.14
Belisario 1.2 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.30
Troncoso 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1.89
Broxton 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.44
 
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Marshall (L, 3-4) 4.1 8 8 7 1 2 1 4.73
Ascanio 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.52
Waddell 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
Patton, D 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 6.46
Marmol 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.13
Gregg 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 4.64

WP: Troncoso.
HBP: Lee, D (by Milton), Milton (by Marshall), Ausmus (by Marmol).
Pitches-strikes: Milton 86-59, Belisario 37-25, Troncoso 15-11, Broxton 12-10, Marshall 72-47, Ascanio 12-6, Waddell 14-10, Patton, D 18-12, Marmol 22-10, Gregg 23-13.
Groundouts-flyouts: Milton 3-8, Belisario 1-2, Troncoso 1-1, Broxton 1-0, Marshall 6-5, Ascanio 1-0, Waddell 1-0, Patton, D 0-1, Marmol 1-0, Gregg 2-0.
Batters faced: Milton 23, Belisario 6, Troncoso 5, Broxton 3, Marshall 23, Ascanio 3, Waddell 4, Patton, D 5, Marmol 6, Gregg 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Belisario 2-0, Ascanio 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Rob Drake. 1B: Mark Wegner. 2B: Tim Timmons. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 56 degrees, clear.
Wind: 6 mph, R to L.
T: 3:05.
Att: 40,091.
May 31, 2009

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