Dempster rewards Lou's faith

ST. LOUIS -- If there was a question about Ryan Dempster's status after another rocky ninth Friday, Cubs manager Lou Piniella answered it before Dempster left the park that night.

''I had a little talk with him and said, 'I have all the confidence in the world in you,''' Piniella said. '''Today wasn't a good day, but tomorrow in a similar situation, you're right back in there.'''

''I had a little talk with him and said, 'I have all the confidence in the world in you,''' Piniella said. '''Today wasn't a good day, but tomorrow in a similar situation, you're right back in there.'''

Then Dempster had an answer of his own: a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts against a gauntlet of left-handed pinch hitters to close out the Cubs' 3-2 win over the Cardinals in Saturday's first game of a doubleheader.

Then Dempster had an answer of his own: a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts against a gauntlet of left-handed pinch hitters to close out the Cubs' 3-2 win over the Cardinals in Saturday's first game of a doubleheader.

''Just that reassurance -- anytime you have a tough game, it's just kind of like giving you that pat on the butt,'' Dempster said. ''I expected [to get the next save chance]. But it's nice to hear.''

Dempster, who notched his 27th save in Saturday's opener, started raising eyebrows -- if not questions about his status -- with a nine-game stretch since Aug. 30 in which he blew a save, lost twice and posted a 10.38 ERA over 8 2/3 innings.

But Piniella hasn't wavered with his bullpen's late-inning roles even through that stretch. If anything, he has leaned hard on his three-man shut-down crew -- Dempster, Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol -- over the past week.

Dempster, for example, has worked four of the last five days. But he said fatigue isn't an issue and he was ready to pitch Saturday's nightcap if needed -- and Piniella said he'd use him.

''At this time of year with this many games left and the position we're in, adrenaline will take over most of the time,'' he said. ''And I feel good. I take care of myself. I run, I try to stay in shape. Hopefully, that all translates into your arm staying in shape. And I try to do what I can to make sure I'm ready to go out there every day and do the job.''

Carlos Zambrano, who threw 101 pitches in his eight-inning start Friday, next starts on short rest, something he embraces and says he thrives on -- but something he has never done in his career, not even in the 2003 playoffs.

''We'll see what happens Tuesday,'' he said of his scheduled start against Cincinnati at home. ''If I can pitch with three days rest all the time in my life, I'll be happy. I feel much better when I pitch with less rest than with five or six days.''

Since joining the Cubs' rotation during the 2002 season, Zambrano has never started on less than four days' rest -- with the unofficial exception of Aug. 23, when he came back early after his Aug. 19 start was rained out in the third inning.

About a half hour after Saturday's first game, stadium paramedics wheeled a young man on a stretcher off of an elevator. He was alert and chatty but had some blood on his shirt and shoes.

Immediately behind them, Cubs broadcaster Ron Santo stepped off the elevator and walked past a handful of reporters. ''I decked him,'' Santo deadpanned. ''Cardinals fan.''

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