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Cubs-Dodgers Preview

Aug 21, 2009 - 6:34 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Writer

Chicago (61-58) at Los Angeles (72-50), 10:10 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Dodgers admit they're not happy with the way they've played lately. The Chicago Cubs would still trade places with them in a heartbeat.

The Dodgers look to build on a convincing series-opening win at Chavez Ravine and extend the Cubs' misery Friday night in a matchup between playoff hopefuls that have been underachieving.

Los Angeles (72-50) entered this four-game set having lost six of its previous eight series, going 10-16 in that stretch. Luckily for the Dodgers, they had baseball's best record prior to that slump, and they've managed to hold on to the NL West lead despite charges from Colorado and San Francisco.

Chicago (61-58) wasn't working with the same cushion, and the Cubs' struggles over the last two weeks have significantly diminished their chances for a third consecutive NL Central title.

The Dodgers helped their cause and hurt the Cubs' with a 7-2 victory Thursday night. Russell Martin hit a grand slam to break a sixth-inning tie and help Los Angeles stay 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Rockies.

"There's nothing I can change in the past. I haven't had a great season so far," said Martin, a two-time All-Star batting a career-low .262 with four home runs. "Hopefully, this ignites a little fire within me. We haven't been playing our best baseball lately. We believe in what we have here. It just takes a few guys to step up."

With their 10th loss in 14 games, the Cubs fell seven games behind St. Louis in the Central and six games back of the Rockies for the wild card. They've lost seven of their last nine on the road.

"That's what happens when you don't score runs," third baseman Aramis Ramirez said. "... I can't figure it out because we've got guys in here who can do better than what we're doing right now. We've got talent. We just can't get it done."

The Cubs hope to start getting back on track by handing the ball to Randy Wells (9-5, 3.01 ERA) on Friday. The rookie right-hander, who is 9-2 over his last 11 starts, bounced back from a loss by holding Pittsburgh to two runs in six innings of a 17-2 rout last Friday.

Wells allowed two runs and struck out seven in seven innings in his first start against the Dodgers on May 28, but didn't get any run support and suffered a 2-1 defeat at Wrigley Field.

Randy Wolf (7-6, 3.43) allowed one run and struck out seven in seven innings to get that win, and he'll face Wells again Friday.

The left-hander, who will turn 33 on Saturday, has won back-to-back starts for the first time this season. He held Arizona to three runs and five hits while striking out a season-high 10 in 7 2-3 innings of a 9-3 victory Sunday.

"My past few outings, I've been a lot more aggressive, going after guys a lot more and pitching in a lot more," said Wolf, who also drove in three runs, scored twice and fell a triple short of the cycle. "As long as my fastball feels good and I am able to locate it, I'm going to keep on throwing a lot of those."

Wolf is 4-7 with a 4.45 ERA lifetime against Chicago. Ramirez, batting .462 against left-handers this season and .375 overall in his last five games, is 5 for 22 (.227) with one home run and six strikeouts in his career against Wolf.

At the plate, Wolf went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Wells in May.