The Cubs attempted to rally in the eighth inning, but the Dodgers hung on, 3-1, to complete a three-game sweep of the North Siders. Los Angeles got on the board quickly, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double by James Loney. Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez scored, and Martin added another run in the fifth with an RBI double of his own that scored Rafael Furcal. Hiroki Kuroda pitched 6 1/3 innings for Los Angeles, scattering six hits over 100 pitches. Chicago's Rich Harden pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks. Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol combined to shut out the Dodgers through the remainder of the game. Derrek Lee led off the eighth inning with a double to left, but Amaris Ramirez struck out, and Geovany Soto popped out to short for two quick outs. Daryle Ward, pinch-hitting for Marmol, singled to center to score Lee, which would turn out to be Chicago's only run of the game. Mark DeRosa struck out to end the inning. The Cubs, who averaged 5.2 runs per game in the regular season, second in all of baseball, managed just six runs in their three games against the Dodgers. Meanwhile, Los Angeles scored twenty runs against Chicago's pitching, which allowed just 4.14 runs per game in the regular season. Chicago hasn't won a World Series since 1908, and appeared primed to contend for the title in the one-hundredth anniversary of their last championship. Only the Angels had more victories (100) than the Cubs (97) in the regular season. In the top of the ninth, leading 3-1, Jonathan Broxton took the mound for the Dodgers after recording the final out of the eighth inning. Broxton struck out Ryan Theriot, then Kosuke Fukudome grounded out to short for the second out of the inning. Alfonso Soriano, who was 0-for-5 on the night, came to bat with the Cubs down to their last out. Soriano struck out to end the game, and the Cubs' season. Los Angeles advances to face the winner of the Philadelphia/Milwaukee series (Phillies lead 2-1) in the NLCS. The victory was the Dodgers' first postseason series win since 1988. On the other hand, the Cubs have now lost nine-straight playoff games.