Sooner or later, all of the walked batters would come back to haunt Ryan Dempster in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

They certainly did during a four-run 5th inning that was capped off by James Loney’s grand slam, as the Los Angeles Dodgers took the lead for good & added a run in each of their last three at-bats to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Wednesday evening from Wrigley Field.

The Cubs gave Ryan Dempster some early run support in the bottom of the 2nd inning, which started with Jim Edmonds’ 1-out single against Dodgers starter Derek Lowe.

Mark DeRosa then followed with a 2-run homer (1st of postseason), a line-drive shot down the right field line that gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers then tried to rally in the top of the 3rd inning after Derek Lowe & Rafael Furcal drew back-to-back 1-out walks from Cubs starter Ryan Dempster.

Russell Martin then flied out to Alfonso Soriano at the warning track in left field before Manny Ramirez reached 1st base safely on an infield single.

With 2 outs & the bases loaded, Andre Ethier struck out swinging to end the scoring threat.

Chicago then had another scoring rally in the bottom of the 4th inning after Mark DeRosa & Ryan Theriot hit back-to-back 2-out singles off Lowe.

Ryan Dempster then struck out with 2 outs & 2 on to end the scoring threat.

Los Angeles then put together a rally to take the lead in the top of the 5th inning after Rafael Furcal drew a 1-out walk from Dempster.

2 batters later, Manny Ramirez walked to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Andre Ethier.

Ethier then walked, which loaded the bases for James Loney.

Loney made Dempster pay for his mistakes, as he hit a grand-slam to left-center field (1st of postseason) to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.

Matt Kemp then followed with a double, which forced Cubs manager Lou Piniella to go to his bullpen & use southpaw reliever Sean Marshall.

Blake DeWitt then struck out with Kemp on 2nd base to end the inning.

Aramis Ramirez tried to spark a Cub rally in the bottom of the 6th inning with a lead-off double against Lowe.

Geovany Soto then struck out before Jim Edmonds grounded out to Blake DeWitt at 2nd base, which advanced Ramirez to 3rd base with 2 outs for Mark DeRosa.

DeRosa then flied out to Andre Ethier in right field to end the scoring threat.

Manny Ramirez then belted his 25th career post-season homer, a 7th inning solo shot (1st of postseason) off Marshall to give Los Angeles a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers then added onto their lead in the top of the 8th inning after Blake DeWitt hit a lead-off double off Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija & advanced to 3rd on Jim Edmonds’ fielding error in centerfield.

Casey Blake then hit an RBI single to score DeWitt from 3rd base & give Los Angeles a 6-2 lead.

The Cubs tried to rally in the bottom of the 8th inning after Geovany Soto drew a 2-out walk from Dodgers setup man Jonathan Broxton.

Jim Edmonds then just missed a chance to put the Cubs back in the game, as his 2-out fly ball was caught by Casey Blake on the warning track in center field.

The Dodgers continued to play long ball in the 9th inning, as Russell Martin hit a lead-off homer (1st of postseason) off Cubs reliever Jason Marquis to give Los Angeles a 7-2 lead.

In interesting fashion, Dodgers reliever & former Cub Greg Maddux came into the game to pitch the bottom of the 9th & got a huge ovation from the fans at Wrigley Field.

Derek Lowe (1-0) gets the win for the Dodgers after pitching 7 innings & allowed 2 runs on 7 hits & struck out 6 Cub batters.

Ryan Dempster (0-1) takes the loss for the Cubs after allowing 4 runs on 4 hits in 4 2/3 innings & walked a season-high 7 batters.

Dempster also failed to pitch 5 innings or more for the first time all season at Wrigley Field.

James Loney’s only hit of the game was a big one, but Russell Martin & Manny Ramirez also added solo homers, as the long ball accounted for 6 of the Dodgers’ 7 runs.

The only two Cub players tonight to have multi-hit games were #7 hitter Mark DeRosa (2-for-4 with a 2-run homer, single & 1 run scored) & #8 hitter Ryan Theriot (2-for-4 with two singles).

The top of Chicago’s order failed to get the job done, as 2008 NL All-Stars Alfonso Soriano & Kosuke Fukudome combined to bat 0-for-9 with 3 strikeouts & left 4 men on base.

Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija & Jason Marquis all gave up 1 run each during their stints out of the Cubs’ bullpen in Game 1.

The Cubs will look to even things up & snap their 7-game postseason losing streak on Thursday evening at 8:30 pm CST at Wrigley Field, as righthander Carlos Zambrano (14-6, 3.91) will be opposed by Dodgers righthander Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14).

Chicago has lost each of Zambrano’s 4 career postseason starts, who is 2-3 against Los Angeles in 8 career starts with a 3.75 ERA.

Zambrano will be seeking his first Wrigley Field win on Thursday since August 21st against Cincinnati.

Billingsley will make his 1st career postseason start on Thursday & went 0-1 in 2 starts against Chicago this season with a 4.91 ERA.

Signing off for now,