Dodgers break through

Well, that didn’t last long.

The Dodgers’ emergence from their three-day offensive malaise coincided with Sean Marshall’s appearance on the mound, as the team with baseball’s best record demonstrated its continued mastery of mediocre pitchers in an 8-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field.

No Manny Ramirez?

Take away Ted Lilly, take away Ryan Dempster and there’s no problem.

The Dodgers pounded Lilly’s and Dempster’s less experienced rotation mate for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings, including five runs in a six-hit first inning, to end their losing streak at two games.

By winning two of four games in Chicago, the Dodgers concluded the trip with a 5-2 record and the month of May with a 20-9 mark.

“I think we played how we would have played if Manny was here,” said James Loney, who was two for five with a double and two runs batted in. “There was no letdown, none of that.”

Seventeen of the Dodgers’ 26 games in June will be at Dodger Stadium, where they have compiled the best home record in the major leagues at 18-5.

By breaking out of their brief offensive funk on Sunday night -- they were held to one run over their previous two games and three over their previous three -- the Dodgers made life easier for Eric Milton.

Milton was better than he was in his previous start, when he beat Colorado to earn his first major league win in nearly three years. The left-hander held the Cubs scoreless until he gave up two runs in the sixth inning.

His final line: two runs, six hits, four strikeouts and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

“I felt good in Colorado,” Milton said. “I felt even better tonight.”

He had some help from his defense.

Third baseman Mark Loretta reached high above his head to snag a line drive by Derrek Lee to get the final out of the first inning.

“Highest I’ve ever jumped,” Loretta said.

Rookie Jamie Hoffman ended the second inning by making a diving catch in right field and throwing out Reed Johnson at the plate. Hoffman credited Orlando Hudson with assisting on the assist.

“I got up and O-Dog was right there yelling at me, ‘He’s going forward, going forward,’ ” Hoffman said.

Milton was grateful.

“Two web gems in the first two innings and five runs on the board in the first made things a lot easier,” he said.

There was more to come.

Matt Kemp launched his second home run of the series in the third inning, a solo home run that climbed halfway up the left-field bleachers. The homer was Kemp’s sixth.

The Dodgers extended their lead to 8-0 in the fifth inning. Loney doubled in Russell Martin from first base, moved to third on a single by Kemp and scored when catcher Geovany Soto’s attempt to catch Kemp stealing went into shallow left-center field.

There was a sour note to the evening, however. Brad Ausmus was plunked by a fastball by reliever Carlos Marmol in the eighth inning, a pitch that Ausmus said “seemed suspicious at the time.”

Was it retaliation for Martin stealing second base in the seventh inning with the Dodgers up, 8-2? Or for a seventh-inning fastball by reliever Ronald Belisario that knocked down Ryan Theriot?

Marmol, who was behind 3-and-0 in the count, said neither.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” he said. “I was struggling to throw the ball.”

Did it look intentional to Dodgers Manager Joe Torre?

“I’d rather not comment on that,” he said.

Ausmus sounded as if he would let it go.

“I don’t know if they were trying to hit me,” Ausmus said.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com