National League Playoff Scores: Manny Ramirez and Chad Billingsley Lead Los Angeles Dodgers to 2-0 Series Advantage with Win Over Chicago Cubs

Manny Ramirez went 2-4 with a  solo homerun and an RBI single, Chad Billingsley pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing one run and striking out seven and the Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of four Chicago Cubs errors to win 10-3 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoff series.

The Cubs looked like they would have something going in the bottom of the first inning as Alfonso Soriano led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch but Billingsley settled down and struck out Ryan Theriot and Derek Lee and then got Aramis Ramirez to fly out to center.

Los Angeles made the Cubs and starter Carlos Zambrano pay in the second as they led off with a pair of singles from Andre Etheir and James Loney and after Matt Kemp struck out Blake Dewitt reached on an error by Mark DeRosa that looked to be an easy double-play ball but resulted in a run. Casey Blake then reached on a Derek Lee error to load the bases and after Billingsley struck out Rafael Furcal reached on a bunt single that plated Loney and Russell Martin cleared the bases with a double.

That 5-0 lead was pushed to 6-0 in the top of the fifth when Manny Ramirez hit a long homerun to center off Zambrano. One inning later the Dodgers pushed across another run as Kemp doubled home Ramirez and Chicago looked stunned.

Billingsley continued to cruise on the mound but after retiring the first two batters in the seventh he gave up a double to DeRosa and he came around on a double from Jim Edmonds. After Geovany Soto singled Los Angeles manager Joe Torre went to the bullpen and Cory Wade put out the fire.

Los Angeles tacked on two more runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to go up 10-1 before the Cubs scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The series now shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday with the Dodgers sending Hiroki Kuroda to the hill while the Chicago Cubs will counter with Rich Harden. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.

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