Dodgers-Cubs: L.A. Looks to Billingsley To Secure Second Game Of NLDS

After securing the opening game of their NLDS series against the Cubs, Dodger manager Joe Torre will hand the ball to Chad Billingsley in Game Two, as Los Angeles looks to take a 2-0 lead over Chicago.

Billingsley, with his 16-10 record, is the Dodger hurler with the most victories this season. This will be his first career playoff start, after tossing two innings of scoreless relief in 2006 against the Mets.

A big challenge for Billingsley will be to keep his pitch count down and maintain control of his pitches. Chad has the habit of losing command for small stretches. The Cubs' lineup would likely take advantage of any streak of wildness, such as was offered to the Dodgers last night by Ryan Dempster.

Dodger batters have to continue to work the count against Cubs' Game Two starter, Carlos Zambrano. The mercurial righty has been all over the charts the last month of the season. He threw a no-hitter against the Houston Astros in a “neutral-site game” held in Milwaukee, due to Hurricane Ike.

He then got lit up in his last two games after returning from his native Venezuela after attending his grandmother's funeral.

Which Billingsley and Zambrano show up for this game will be the key as to who will be the winner. Which bats come out to play will also be important.

The Chicago lineup was found to be lacking, as the first five hitters went 2-for-19 in Game One. A repeat of that kind of performance will be fatal for the Cubs' chances.

Los Angeles squandered early opportunities, causing great distress amongst the Dodger faithful. James Loney broke the spell with a grand slam in the fifth, putting him in the company of Ron Cey and Dusty Baker as the only Dodgers to hit a bases-loaded blast in the playoffs.

Manny was being Manny with an infield single, then depositing a low curve deep in the center-field seats, showing the way for a team stocked with many young and talented future stars. One of them, Russell Martin, iced the game with a ninth-inning blast.

Martin overshadowed his counter number, Geovany Soto, the Cubs' catcher and rookie of the year candidate, who went 0-for-3, with a walk.

The Dodger gameplan is to extend the number of pitches Zambrano has to make and try to get into the Cubs' bullpen by the sixth inning. If they are successful, look for the Dodgers to be flying home with a 2-0 lead in the series and the Cubbies to be in seriously bad shape.