This Dodgers team looking very familiar
If there could be anything worse to Cubs fans than another early playoff exit - and judging by the boos at Wrigley Field on Thursday, there might not be - how about a playoff loss to the St. Louis Cardinals?
Instead, the Cubs are losing to this year's version of the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals - that mediocre, 83-win team that somehow caught fire and won the World Series.
Meet the 2008 edition, the Los Angeles Dodgers, just 1 victory better than those Cardinals at 84, and now 1 win away from ending the Cubs' 97-win regular season.
Like those Cardinals, the Dodgers are getting great postseason starting pitching. After Derek Lowe beat the Cubs in Game 1, Chad Billingsley dominated Thursday, allowing 1 run in 6 innings.
Another righty awaits in Game 3, Hiroki Kuroda, and all he did in 2 starts this year against the Cubs was hold them to 1 run in 15 innings.
"I was very impressed with Chad," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "He just went out there and did what he's done for us so many times this year."
Billingsley pitched out of a jam in the first, striking out Ryan Theriot and Derrek Lee and retiring Aramis Ramirez on a fly to center to strand Alfonso Soriano at second. After that, it was lights out as he changed speeds and mixed his fastball and slider to hold the Cubs to 5 hits, just 2 in the first 6 innings.
"I got in a jam there but got out of it and still attacked," Billingsley said.
Billingsley, who finished fifth in the NL in strikeouts this year, fanned seven and walked one. He retired 10 straight at one point until Mark DeRosa doubled in the seventh, the start of 3 straight hits that ended his night.
"He's been tremendous, probably the most consistent pitcher for the whole year," said catcher Russell Martin, who delivered a key 3-run double in the second inning. "When he's getting all his pitches over, that's when he's on."
The Dodgers also have a slugger to match the Cardinals' Albert Pujols. Manny Ramirez homered for the second straight game, extending his major-league postseason record to 26.
The Dodgers are looking like a team ready to follow the Cardinals' formula, one the Cubs are learning all too well - regular season wins don't mean a thing if postseason success doesn't follow.
"We're a completely different team," Billingsley said. "We had a lot of injuries early in the year and were able to battle through it. At the deadline we made some good moves and came together well as a team."