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Playoff veteran Lowe leads Dodgers into NLDS

Oct 1, 2008 - 10:05 AM National League Division Series Game One

LA Dodgers at Chi Cubs, 6:35pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Derek Lowe has done this all before; Ryan Dempster hasn't. Joe Torre has been here every year for more than a decade, winning four World Series in the process; Lou Piniella hasn't won a playoff game since 2001.

Their respective teams meet on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the Chicago Cubs for Game One of the National League Division Series.

After a dominant second half of the season, Lowe (14-11, 3.24 ERA) gets the call. A strong finish may not be the primary reason Torre picked the righthander. After all, statistically speaking, the 35-year-old sinkerballer has been far more successful at home than on the road.

Lowe holds one key factor over any pitcher on either staff: October experience. While with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, he pitched the deciding games in all three rounds of the playoffs. Included in that was Game Four of the World Series, as Lowe pitched seven shutout innings as the Red Sox finished off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

"When he takes the ball, he goes out there and he just pitches his heart out. He has been a real pro for us," said Torre, who is in his first season as the Dodgers' manager. "I think he's showed us a lot of leadership, even though he wasn't our Opening Day starter. That didn't bother him, either ... He's just one of those blue-collar guys. And right now I think he's at the top of his game."

In his postseason career, Lowe is 4-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 18 appearances, including seven starts.

Of course, despite all that, the Dodgers still go into this series as underdogs. Regardless of Lowe's postseason pedigree - and that of his manager - he has the daunting task of dueling the best offense in the National League. And he doesn't get to do so in the friendly pitcher's haven of Dodger Stadium, but in Wrigley Field, where the Cubs won a league-best 55 home games this season.

In his career against the Cubs, Lowe is 2-1 with a 3.25 ERA in eight starts, including a one-hit shutout at Wrigley Field in August 2005.

"I think when you've played maybe the years that I've been fortunate to play, there's no secrets. You can ask any hitter over there what am I going to throw; they can tell you, and vice versa. I know what they're going to do," Lowe said. "I think that's the beauty of the playoffs. It comes down to maybe making that adjustment on the fly or kind of seeing something both ways. But at this stage, there are no secrets. It comes down to execution, and who does it better will ultimately win."

Taking the hill for the Cubs, who have made the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1907-08, is All-Star righthander Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.96), who unlike his counterpart has never made a postseason start. He has, however, been the Cubs' most consistent pitcher all season long - particularly at home. In 20 starts at Wrigley Field this season, he is 14-3 with a 2.86 ERA.

"I feel like I've thrown just as good on the road as at home, but things have kind of fallen into place here at home, and for all of us," Dempster said. "As a team we had a pretty remarkable record at home, and hopefully we can just keep that going here through the postseason."

In his 13th consecutive season in the playoffs, Torre will be trying to get out of the first round for the first time since 2004. Though his Dodgers hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, many have them pegged as a possible spoiler. Much of that has to do with the mid-season addition of Manny Ramirez, who averaged exactly an RBI-per-game since first donning Dodger blue on August 1 and even earned MVP discussion.

"When you get Manny Ramirez on the team, it doesn't just add that one spot in the lineup a little bit better, it makes the whole lineup a little bit better because he makes the people around him, I think, a lot better hitters," Dempster said. "They're going to see maybe a little bit better pitches because you know he's hitting behind them. Watching him, he's as good a hitter, especially righthanded hitter, as we've ever seen, especially in my generation."

The Dodgers have a couple other additions that could prove valuable - shortstop and leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal recently returned after missing 4 1/2 months due to back surgery, and All-Star closer Takashi Saito is back after missing two months with a sprained ligament in his elbow.

"It was a long year," Torre said. "We had a lot of changes, a lot of meetings. I think the players over the course of time learned to trust what we were doing."

Piniella has even more on his shoulders - he has led the Cubs to back-to-back division championships, but anything less than a World Series title - or at least an appearance - would likely be considered a disappointment. He's won a championship before, but that was 18 years ago when his Cincinnati Reds upset the Bash Brothers-led Oakland Athletics in a four-game sweep.

This time, his team is the favorite.

"The time for talking is over. The time to get on the field and perform starts tomorrow," Piniella said. "Our club is confident, as I'm sure the Dodgers are, and we're going to go out and play as well as we can, as hard as we can, for as long as we can."