For The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre needed only three games to help the Los Angeles Dodgers win their first postseason series in 20 years.
The Dodgers wrapped up their stunning three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the NL division series with a 3-1 victory Saturday night, their first series win since Orel Hershiser led Los Angeles to the 1988 World Series title.
Just hours after one of Torre’s thoroughbred racehorses won the Champagne Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park – in the city where the manager led the New York Yankees to four championships – the Dodgers earned a trip to the NLCS by extending the Cubs’ futility to 100 years.
! Sweep! Sweep!”
And the sweep came in large part to Torre’s steady style and the hitting of Ramirez, a trade-dealine acquisition.
Hiroki Kuroda, who spent 11 seasons pitching in the Japanese Central League with Hiroshima before signing a three-year, $35.3 million contract in December, helped sealed the deal with 6 1-3 scoreless innings of six-hit ball.
James Loney provided the spark with a two-run double in the first, and Russell Martin added a run-scoring double in the fifth off starter Rich Harden.
It didn’t matter to the Dodgers that their 84-78 record was the worst among the six division winners, or that Chicago’s 97-64 mark and run total were the best in the NL. Torre’s team kept riding a wave they caught late in the regular season, after losing eight straight games and falling 4 1/2 games out of first place in the West Division.
With Ramirez, Loney and Russell Martin leading the way in this series, Los Angeles outscored Chicago 20-6. The Cubbies have dropped nine straight postseason games, including being swept by Arizona in last year’s division series.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff, second in the majors behind Toronto with a 3.68 ERA during the regular season, held Chicago to just five hits in 28 at-bats with runners in scoring position – and one in 11 at-bats Saturday.
first two games. In fact, the only team to advance to the LCS after losing the first two games at home was Torre’s 2001 New York Yankees.
Torre, whose 79 postseason victories are a record, made all the right moves in this series and didn’t allow sentiment to get the better of him. He started rookie Blake DeWitt at second base all three games instead of veteran Jeff Kent.
Kent, who had 43 games of postseason experience entering this series, spent 2 1/2 weeks on the disabled list after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee but was able to start several games in the final week of the regular schedule.
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