DeRosa left stunned by Cubs’ exit

For the Cubs, there simply were no excuses.

“I’m in shock,” outfielder Mark DeRosa said in the Cubs’ clubhouse after Dodgers beat Chicago, 3-1, to sweep the National League division series.

“We didn’t play well, we didn’t deserve to win,” he said. “We played well all year, and for us to have three games like this is shocking.

“We felt confident coming into tonight’s game that we were capable of winning three in a row,” he said. “That’s what’s so shocking is we played six, seven months of really phenomenal baseball, and for us to go out in three games is just ridiculous.”

The Cubs had the NL’s best record with 97 wins, but they were thoroughly dominated by the Dodgers in the series.

“My players they tried their butts off, I salute them for it,” said Cubs Manager Lou Piniella.

“At the same time, if you want to win a World Series and you want to go further in the postseason, you’ve got to score runs, and the truth of the matter is, in two playoffs that we’ve been to, we’ve scored a total of 12 runs, period.”

“That ain’t going to get it done,” he said.

Fans were hoping

Seeing their Cubs lose the first two games to the Dodgers was no less agonizing for Cubs fans in Southern California than for those at Wrigley Field.

Nonetheless, a loyal contingent of Chicago fans arrived at Dodger Stadium for Game 3 to support the Cubs at least one more time this season.

Nicole Pontillo of Burridge, Ill., watched the Cubs’ losses up close at Wrigley, then flew to Los Angeles and snapped pictures of her favorite Cubs while they took batting practice Saturday.

“It’s disappointing, but we’re good fans and we believe it’s going to happen this year, so that’s why we’re here,” she said.

Little help?

Piniella has yet to savor a postseason win despite guiding the team to the playoffs the last two seasons. The Cubs were swept in the division series last year by Arizona.

In any case, the Cubs last week said they exercised an option to have Piniella keep managing the team through 2010, saying he “brings a humble, confident swagger” to the club.

Short hops

Heading into Saturday’s game, Piniella and Dodgers Manager Joe Torre had combined to manage 7,267 regular-season games in the majors, the most for two skippers opposing each other in the postseason. . . . Piniella and Torre were the only opposing division series managers who had at least 1,700 wins as managers and 1,700 hits as players. . . . With his inning of relief work Thursday, Kerry Wood became the 14th Cub to appear in four different postseasons and the first since Stan Hack in 1945.

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ames.peltz@latimes.com

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Dodgers vs. Chicago

Dodgers win the NL division series, 3-0

Game 1: Dodgers 7, at Chicago 2

Game 2: Dodgers 10, at Chicago 3

Game 3: Dodgers 3, Chicago 1