Rafael >> Furcal, left, and Manny Ramirez

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LOS ANGELES — If an MVP award had been handed out as a result of the Dodgers' three-game sweep over the Cubs in the NL Division Series, there is a good chance that James Loney would have been the recipient.

Loney silenced the Game 1 crowd at Wrigley Field with a fifth-inning grand slam that turned a 2-0 deficit into an eventual 7-2 victory.

The young first baseman was also the one who hit the key two-run double in the first inning of Game 3 off Cubs pitcher Rich Harden.

But a lot of the success for the first-round victory can be attributed to the Dodgers getting their leadoff hitter back.

Rafael Furcal was hampered by back problems since early in the season. He did not return to the lineup until the final weekend of the regular season.

Furcal's injury limited him to a paltry 36 games during the regular season, so he is using the postseason as a chance to make up for lost time.

Furcal, though still rusty, batted .333 in the three-game sweep of the Cubs. He had four singles, scored four runs, drove in two and walked three times.

Furcal said he hopes to continue his success when the NL Championship Series begins Thursday in Philadelphia.

His presence at the top of the batting order not only gave the Dodgers a viable offensive threat but a psychological one as well.

"I told you I would be back this season," Furcal said softly while his teammates were dousing each other with champagne and beer Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Coming back next season, instead of late September, would have been just fine with the Cubs. Do not expect the Philadelphia Phillies to throw him any sort of welcome-back parade, either.

The Dodgers have a healthy Furcal back, and it is now up to the Phillies to find a way to deal with him.

"He's what we kept our fingers crossed for," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "I think there was a little rustiness at the plate, but you could see the competitiveness, because he sort of rides himself a little bit (after) he doesn't take a good swing or whatever.

"Being away that long without competition, it's not easy to do what he's doing right now."

Much has been made of the arrival of outfielder Manny Ramirez. A few spaces away from Ramirez in the Dodgers clubhouse is a much quieter version of Furcal being Furcal.

His competitiveness makes it impossible to hide his disappointment. He struggled with that last season when an ankle injury, suffered in spring training, bothered him throughout the season.

The Dodgers' late-season collapse of 2007 started with a doubleheader loss in Colorado. Furcal left the first game of that doubleheader because of a stiff back. The season ended before he could come back. It is unlikely that the Dodgers would have been able to derail the World Series-bound Rockies last season, but having Furcal in the lineup would have given them a better shot.

"I had trouble getting him out of the lineup in spring training," Torre said. "Normally, I would take a guy out after two or three innings, and they're fine with it, but he would say, 'No, I want to stay.'

"That really opened my eyes. I knew he had talent, but I never really understood everything that went with it."

The current Dodgers used a three-game series in Arizona in late August as their turnaround point.

They won the National League West and subsequent trip to the playoffs, but the return of Furcal has made them more than merely a team that is along for the ride.

Angel Berroa held his own while filling in for Furcal this season, but deep down inside, you knew it was not enough. Furcal's return gave Dodgers' opponents one more thing to worry about.

"We had Berroa hitting in the bottom of the lineup, and he did a great job for us filling in; there's no question," Torre said. "But Furcal is a game-breaker. He can do a lot of things. He bunts with the bases loaded. His base running … he can score from first base. He's just that guy that gets the other team's attention. And he certainly gives us a good shot at the top of the lineup."

That makes things even. Being back in the lineup is giving Furcal exactly what he needs.