| Joe Gutierrez. 20th April, 2006 - 5:38 am
 The Dodgers finished their three game series with Chicago Cubs last night, but not before closer Danys Baez failed to pitch the final two innings with caution. The Cubs would score three times in the eighth to beat the Dodgers 5-4.
Dodgers’ pitcher Brad Penny threw six innings of play, giving up two earned runs on nine hits. It wasn’t Penny’s best game of the young season, yet he still kept the Dodgers in the ball game. The Cubs couldn’t have asked for a better game from the young Sean Marshall, who gave up two runs on just two hits. He would go the required five innings, striking out five Dodgers in the process.
The first inning saw Penny allow the quick CF Juan Pierre reach second on a double to left field. 2B Todd Walker followed with a single to left, scoring Pierre to give Chicago the early 1-0 lead. The Dodgers would strike back in the second, as the long ball brought in two runs.
Veteran C Sandy Alomar Jr. singled to center, setting up LF Jason Repko, who jumped on the first pitch he saw from Marshall, hitting it over the left field fence for a home run. The Cubs came back in the fourth on a single by LF John Mabry, which allowed 1B Derrek Lee to score and tie the game at 2-2.
In the Dodgers sixth, Alomar Jr. continued his hot hitting when he singled yet again, this time scoring RF Jose Cruz Jr. Pinch hitter Ricky Ledee came off the bench and delivered an RBI base hit. Los Angeles now had a two-run leading, and Baez was called in to pitch the eighth and ninth innings.
In the eighth, C Michael Barrett singled to score Neifi Perez, who was now playing for the injured Lee. This brought Chicago within one run of tying the game. The final blow came on SS Ronny Cedeno’s clutch single to score two runs, putting the Cubs up for good.
Final Score: Dodgers 4, Cubs 5
Coming Up
The Dodgers get the day off Thursday but begin another series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at Dodger Stadium. Getting the call to start the first game will be Odalis Perez, as he takes on Orlando Hernandez
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