The Cubs scored five times in the eighth inning, defeating the Dodgers 10-8 in an afternoon affair at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Dodgers led the wild, back-and-forth contest 8-5 heading into the eighth inning, and relief pitcher Matt Guerrier had thrown only seven pitches in the previous inning. Guerrier, who hadn't been scored upon in his last 15 appearances, dating back to last year, was heavily scored upon in the eighth.
The Cubs got four hits and a walk off Guerrier to tie the game before he was lifted in favor of Blake Hawksworth. The first pitch thrown by Hawksworth was hit for a two-run, go-ahead double by Jeff Baker. The Cubs led 5-1 earlier in the game, but the Dodgers scored in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to take the lead. Jeff Samardzija (2-0) struck out three of the four batters he faced to pick up the victory. Starlin Castro had four hits, including a double, for the Cubs.
The Dodgers hit three home runs today, by Casey Blake, Matt Kemp, and Rod Barajas. Blake had two hits and two walks, and scored three runs. Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a two-run double in the seventh inning off left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall. Ethier's streak is the longest in MLB this season.
The Cubs are the first team in MLB history to start a season 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10. These two teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday, with an 11:20 a.m. PDT start. Hiroki Kuroda will face Carlos Zambrano in tomorrow's game.
For more news and information on the Dodgers, or on today's game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.