Ramirez, Soto power Cubs to 7-3 win over Dodgers

LOS ANGELES - An entire half-season of what-might-have-beens for the Cubs unfolded on a sunny Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

The Cubs got their usual good pitching performance, but they also got some big hits by their big hitters in a 7-3 victory over the Dodgers.

Tom Gorzelanny pitched 6 innings to run his record to 4-5, and the Cubs got home runs form Geovany Soto and Aramis Ramirez as they improved to 4-2 on the road trip with one more game to play before the all-star break.

A little more of this over the first 21/2 months of the season and maybe the record wouldn't be 39-49.

"That's the way you put it down on paper," said manager Lou Piniella, who watched the second half of the game from the cool and comfort of the clubhouse after being kicked out after the fifth inning for arguing a call on the bases.

Soto, one of the few consistent hitters in the lineup to date, agreed with the manager.

"It's refreshing to see us starting to hit now with some consistency," said Soto, who was 3-for-4, including a 2-run homer in the second inning off John Ely that put the Cubs ahead 3-0.

"We had a good series in Arizona (a three-game sweep). Coming in here, I guess we've been getting some runs down. Today, we had a good game.

"This road trip has been great for us. At least we've seen that we're scoring runs, and we're not winning 1-0 games. We are hitting the ball. We are starting to wake up. That's a good sign, always."

The Cubs chased Ely in the third with 3 more runs, including a bases-loaded walk by Alfonso Soriano and run-scoring singles by Starlin Castro and Soto.

Gorzelanny took it from there, winning his second start on this road trip by pitching 6 innings and giving up 6 hits and 2 runs, 1 earned.

"The offense has been coming through and scoring some runs," he said. "There have been a lot of things have been clicking for everybody. Guys have been swinging the bats well. Guys are pitching well. The bullpen has been doing well for us."

The hottest guy has been Ramirez, who is 12-for-25 with 4 homers and 9 RBI on the road trip. Before the Cubs left for Arizona last Sunday, Ramirez had missed two more games with his sore left thumb, and his batting average was .177. It doesn't sound like much, but the average is at .209.

"We've been hitting good, and if we do that, we're going to win a lot of games," Ramirez said. "We've just got to come back after the break and keep doing right now.

"I've still got a lot of work to do. I struggled badly into last week. I'm looking forward to the next 70 games to do what I'm doing."

Bruce Miles' game tracker Cubs 7, Dodgers 3More quality: Tom Gorzelanny turned in the Cubs' 55th quality start of the season. He pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs, 1 earned. The Cubs are 30-25 in quality-start games, and the starters have an ERA of 2.20 in those games.So far, Soto good: Geovany Soto went 3-for-4 and matched his season high with 3 RBI. For the season, he has a hitting line of .289/.412/.488.Cooling off: Tyler Colvin was 0-for-5, and he has cooled considerably of late. He's 2-for-17 on the road trip.False512369Cubs manager Lou Piniella, left, argues with first base umpire Jerry Layne over a call in the bottom of the fifth inning. Piniella was ejected from the game between innings.Associated PressFalse