A look at the best-of-five National League division series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs:

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Dodgers: CF Matt Kemp (.290, 18 HRs, 76 RBIs, 35 SB), C Russell Martin (.280, 13, 69, 18 SB), LF Manny Ramirez (.396, 17, 53 in 53 games with Dodgers after July 31 trade from Boston; .332, 37, 121 overall), RF Andre Ethier (.305, 20, 77), 1B James Loney (.289, 13, 90), 3B Casey Blake (.251, 10, 23 in 59 games with Dodgers after July 26 trade from Cleveland; .274, 21, 81 overall), 2B Blake DeWitt (.264, 9, 52), SS Angel Berroa (.230, 1, 16). Note: SS Rafael Furcal, out most of the season with back problems, could start. He'd hit leadoff in a rearranged batting order.

Cubs: LF Alfonso Soriano (.280, 29, 79, 19 SB), SS Ryan Theriot (.307, 1, 38, 22 SB), 1B Derrek Lee (.291, 20, 90), 3B Aramis Ramirez (.289, 27, 111), CF Jim Edmonds (.256, 19. 49 with Cubs after cut by San Diego on May 9; .235, 20, 55 overall), C Geovany Soto (.285, 23, 86), 2B Mark DeRosa (.285, 21, 87), RF Kosuke Fukudome (.257, 10, 58, 12 SB).

PROJECTED ROTATIONS

Dodgers: RH Derek Lowe (14-11, 3.24 ERA), RH Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14, 201 strikeouts), RH Hiroki Kuroda (9-10, 3.73), RH Greg Maddux (2-4, 5.09 in 7 starts with Dodgers after trade from San Diego; 8-13, 4.22 overall).

Cubs: RH Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.96), RH Carlos Zambrano (14-6, 3.91), RH Rich Harden (5-1, 1.77, 89 strikeouts in 12 starts with Cubs after July 8 trade from Oakland; 10-2, 2.07 in 25 starts overall), LH Ted Lilly (17-9, 4.09).

RELIEVERS

Dodgers: RH Jonathan Broxton (3-5, 3.13, 14/16 saves), RH Takashi Saito (4-4, 2.49, 18/21 saves), LH Joe Beimel (5-1, 2.02), RH Cory Wade (2-1, 2.27), RH Chan Ho Park (4-4, 3.40), LH Clayton Kershaw (5-5, 4.26 in 22 games, 21 starts).

Cubs: RH Kerry Wood (5-4, 3.26, 34/40 saves), RH Carlos Marmol (2-4, 2.68, 114 strikeouts in 87 1-3 IP, 82 games), RH Bob Howry (7-5, 5.35), LH Neal Cotts (0-2, 4.29), LH Sean Marshall (3-5, 3.86 in 34 games, 7 starts), RH Jason Marquis (11-9, 4.53 in 29 games, 28 starts), RH Jeff Samardzija (1-0, 2.28).

MATCHUPS

All seven meetings between the teams came before Ramirez and Blake joined the Dodgers, who have won just one playoff game in their past four appearances since winning the World Series 20 years ago. But under the guidance of first-year manager Joe Torre, they're in the postseason for the third time since Frank McCourt bought the team from News Corp. before the 2004 season. ... The Dodgers feature three ex-Cubs: Maddux, Nomar Garciaparra and Juan Pierre. ... The Cubs swept a three-game series from Los Angeles at Wrigley Field in May by scores of 3-1, 3-1 and 2-1 in 10 innings. The teams split a four-game set at Dodger Stadium in June. ... Jeff Kent was 8-for-19 against the Cubs with two homers. Martin was 8-for-21. Garciaparra didn't play against Chicago. ... Dempster was 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA against the Dodgers this season. He went 14-3 at home. ... Zambrano was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA against Los Angeles. Harden has never faced the Dodgers. Lilly didn't pitch against Los Angeles this season, but is 2-0 in his career. ... Soriano was 8-for-29 against the Dodgers this season with one homer and 10 strikeouts. ... Cubs manager Lou Piniella isn't afraid to use his bench or even start his backups. Two of his favorites are infielder Mike Fontenot and outfielder Reed Johnson, both good contact hitters. Piniella also likes young "live" arms in the bullpen, where Marmol has developed into one of baseball's best setup men. Samardzija, a football star at Notre Dame, made the playoff roster because of the zip on his fastball and his ability to handle loud crowds and pressure situations.

BIG PICTURE

Dodgers: Torre will manage in the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, including all 12 with the New York Yankees before splitting from the team last fall. ... The Dodgers (84-78) qualified for the postseason despite having a losing record as recently as Sept. 3. After an eight-game losing streak, L.A. went 18-5 to move past Arizona and clinch its first division title in four years.

Cubs: In first place since May 11, Chicago (97-64) won its second consecutive NL Central title and finished with the second-best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Angels. The Cubs pulled away from Milwaukee by sweeping four games at Miller Park in late July. Now, they go for their first pennant since 1945 and first World Series championship in 100 years. ... The Cubs were swept in the first round of last year's playoffs by Arizona.