Bring up the words "Chad Billingsley" and "playoffs," and you will likely hear countless mentions of the 2008 NLCS against the Phillies, where his two poor starts contributed to the Dodgers' series loss and apparently invalidated everything he had accomplished prior to that. However, Billingsley's first playoff start was his best, and that came against the Cubs in Game 2 of the NLDS. Billingsley won that night, and has pitched very well in three career starts in Wrigley Field:
| Chad Billingsley Career Starts at Wrigley Field | |||||||
| Date | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | Dec |
| 10/2/08 | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | W |
| 5/26/08 | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | L |
| 5/29/09 | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | L |
| Totals (2.29 ERA) |
19.2 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 1-2 |
Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost each of those last two games, scoring one run in each game. That sounds an awful lot like last night, when the Dodgers didn't score at all. In fact, the Dodgers have scored 14 total runs in their last eight games at Wrigley Field, and that includes an eight-run game last season. They have scored zero or one run in six of those eight games, losing all six.
Tom Gorzelanny gets the start for Chicago, after getting hit on the hand last week, and in what might be his final start before getting bumped by Carlos Zambrano. Gorzelanny has a 1-0 record and a 4.08 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers.
Closing Time
Both Carlos Marmol, who got the save last night, and Jonathan Broxton have racked up saves in May after few opportunities in April.
| MLB Save Leaders in May | ||||||||||
| Closer | Team | IP | BB | K | W | Sv | Bsv | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
| Broxton | LA | 10.0 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2.70 | 1.30 | 0.23 |
| Feliz | Tex | 12.2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0.71 | 0.55 | 1.93 |
| Soriano | TB | 10.1 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.58 | 2.24 |
| Marmol | ChC | 12.0 | 9 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2.25 | 1.25 | 2.41 |
| Dotel | Pit | 10.0 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 1.30 |
| Wilson | SF | 9.1 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2.89 | 1.50 | 2.94 |
| Thanks to ESPN & Fangraphs | ||||||||||
Road Woes
This is skewed since Eric Collins and Steve Lyons don't announce home games, where the Dodgers have played much better than on the road, but here is the Dodgers' record this year, broken down by announcers:
| 2010 Dodgers, By Announcer | |
| Announcer | W-L |
| Vin Scully | 20-7 |
| Collins, Lyons | 4-12 |
| Fox | 1-1 |
| Total | 25-20 |
Notes
-
Reed Johnson has reached base safely in his last five (and six of his last seven) plate appearances against left-handed pitching, with three singles, a double, and a walk
- The Dodgers will have three inductees – Hall of Fame Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, scout Camilo Pascual and former team President Peter O’Malley – at the inaugural induction ceremony of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame to be held in La Romana, Dominican Republic at Casa de Campo on Saturday
- Manny Ramirez is hitting .244/.385/.293 in May, with two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 14 games.
- Maury Wills picked up his 2,000th career hit on this date in 1971
Lineups
| Dodgers | Cubs | |||
| SS | Furcal |
RF | Fukudome | |
| C | Martin | 2B | Theriot | |
| CF | Kemp | 1B | Lee |
|
| LF | Manny | LF | Soriano | |
| 3B | Blake | CF | Colvin | |
| 1B | Loney |
3B | Fontenot | |
| RF | Johnson |
SS | Castro | |
| 2B | DeWitt | C | Hill | |
| P | Billingsley |
P | Gorzelanny | |
Xeifrank's simulation of today's game is here.
Game Time: 5:05pm
TV: Prime Ticket, WGN