Dempster to the rescue
Cubs 3, Astros 2
HOUSTON — If the Cubs are going to get to the playoffs, much less do anything beyond that, they're going to need Ryan Dempster.
And that's why the Cubs' closer might have needed Wednesday's blood-pumping finish to the Cubs' 3-2 win over Houston more than anyone else on the team.
(AP)
"Whatever I had I used today,'' said Dempster, who put the potential tying run on third base with none out but then left him there to close out one of the biggest wins of the year for the team — just one night after he gave up the game-winner in one of its toughest losses.
"He did a great job. That's a great character builder right there,'' said first baseman Derrek Lee, who turned a bad-hop grounder into the 3-6-1 double play that ended the game and boosted the Cubs back into a first-place tie with the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
Manager Lou Piniella called Wednesday's win "special,'' coming on the heels of Tuesday's tough loss.
"You have to think the worm has turned,'' he said. "Man on third, no outs and we get out of that with just a great double play. I mean, you've got to feel that things are going to start going your way. This type of game really should get us on a roll.''
Credit Rich Hill's starting pitching and Cliff Floyd's home run and triple, and definitely Lee's composure and hand-eye coordination on the game-ending play.
But keep an eye on Dempster down the stretch after this one. Talk about the worm turning.
This is the guy whose 13-conversion save streak was snapped with that crushing ninth-inning loss to the Dodgers at home only six days earlier. The guy who pitched brilliantly in the 10th and one out into the 11th Tuesday only to lose the game on a one-out walk followed by a double.
The guy who then watched his third pitch of Wednesday's ninth bang off the first-base bag and carom past Lee into right field.
"I'd much rather have no luck than that kind of luck,'' Dempster said of the fluke hit.
That's when pinch-hitter Mike Lamb drove a triple into right-center to cut a two-run Cubs lead in half.
"It could have easily gone the other way right there,'' Lee said.
Instead, with the infield in, Dempster got Luke Scott to ground to Aramis Ramirez for the first out. And after a walk to Orlando Palmeiro on a 3-2 pitch, Piniella walked slowly to the mound as pinch-hitter Eric Munson prepared to hit.
"Get this guy Munson to hit it on the ground, and we've got a chance,'' Piniella told him.
Four pitches later, Lee to Theriot to Dempster became the saddest of possible words for the Astros.
"I think you just have to realize that because sometimes the odds are stacked against you, you can always make a pitch to get out of things,'' said Dempster, who has 26 saves in 29 chances and a 3.72 ERA in those 29 games.
"You look at [Tuesday]. You saw it, how frustrated I was and how angry I was. You've got to come in the next day and just be ready to go out there and try to get the job done.''
Dempster's wild ride to the end of Wednesday's game almost overshadowed the masterful job starter Rich Hill (9-8) did in the biggest game of his career. He allowed only three hits and one run on a seventh-inning solo homer, over seven innings — after back-to-back poor outings to start the month.