Dodgers slam way past Cubs in NLDS opener

CHICAGO -- Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre brought their winning postseason ways to the Los Angeles Dodgers -- and Wrigley Field.

James Loney hit a go-ahead grand slam off a wild Ryan Dempster, Ramirez and Russell Martin homered and the new-look Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 in their NL playoff opener Wednesday night.

"The atmosphere here was real quiet as I was going around the bases. So I think our fans were cheering back home," Loney said.

The Cubs entered the postseason with the best record in the league, hoping for a fast start 100 years after their last World Series championship.

But Ramirez and Torre, winners of six World Series crowns in the AL, wound up on top in their first playoff game together. Ramirez's homer was his 25th in the postseason, extending his own record.

"I'm just being Manny," he said. "That's it. I've been playing great everywhere, and I'm just happy that I'm here in L.A. It was a great move for me, just to go and show people that that other stuff that I left behind wasn't true, that I just want to come and get a new life and play the game ... and show people that I still can do this."

Few needed to be convinced, because after being traded from Boston, Ramirez sparked the Dodgers to the NL West title. And there he was Wednesday night, leading them again, even hustling hard to beat out an infield single in the third inning.

"We get a sense of what he's been doing all these years," Loney said.

The win was a good omen for the Dodgers. The last time they started a postseason series with a victory was 1988 -- the Kirk Gibson game in the World Series.

The Cubs will try to get even in Game 2 tonight when they send mercurial right-hander Carlos Zambrano against Chad Billingsley.

Only 18 of 56 teams who lost the division series opener came back to win the series, including only four of 28 in the NL, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"Let's hope we get better," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Let's put this one behind us and go get them tomorrow."

Torre made his 13th straight postseason managerial appearance -- the previous 12 were with the Yankees -- and extended his record for postseason wins to 77 in a matchup with Piniella, another veteran skipper.

"It does a lot for our confidence," Torre said. "We know how good Chicago is. We know how consistent they've been all year. And to have them get a lead and for us to just maintain our patience, it's important."

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead on Mark DeRosa's homer in the second inning off Derek Lowe, but the Dodgers rebounded against Dempster, who had trouble finding the strike zone all night.

Dempster walked the bases loaded in the fifth, and Loney delivered for the Dodgers.

After swinging and missing the first two pitches, he sent a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center for the grand slam that gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead and silenced a Wrigley Field crowd that was cheering loudly for Dempster (0-1) to get out of the jam he created.

"Invariably, when you keep putting people on, they're going to score, and they scored there quickly with that grand slam," Piniella said.

When Matt Kemp followed with a double, Piniella had seen enough and brought in Sean Marshall from the bullpen. Marshall gave up Ramirez's solo shot in the seventh that made it 5-2.

The Dodgers padded the lead in the eighth when Blake DeWitt doubled and reached third on an error by center fielder Jim Edmonds, scoring on Casey Blake's single off Jeff Samardzija.

Martin homered off Jason Marquis in the ninth.

Dempster, 14-3 at Wrigley during the regular season, threw 109 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and four hits while matching a career high seven walks.

"I sure put myself in a tough situation," Dempster said.