Role-playing Dempster on his game

Ryan Dempster ''likes'' both starting and closing, but the change in roles clearly has been to his liking even more.

Dempster is as solid a starter as the Cubs have, lowering his ERA to a sparkling 2.75 on Saturday with six innings of two-run ball and keeping the team in the game against Arizona Diamondbacks talented rookie Max Scherzer.

''I always say, if we win the game I start, I'm happy,'' said Dempster, who struck out seven, taking over second place among Canadian-born pitchers with 1,044 strikeouts. The leader is a former Cub, Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, who fanned 3,192.

Dempster pitched his way out of big trouble in the sixth, when the Diamondbacks scored their only two runs -- the first because of a bases-loaded walk to Justin Upton after Conor Jackson walked.

''Facing Conor Jackson in a close [1-0] game, I wasn't going to let him beat me,'' Dempster said. ''I was more comfortable facing Upton.''

The ball-four call was close enough to draw Dempster into a conversation with home-plate umpire Dana DeMuth.

''I asked where he had dinner reservations,'' Dempster said in jest. ''But he did a great job behind the dish today. I didn't let it bother me. The bases were still loaded. I got a ground-ball out [from Mark Reynolds], and we're still in the ballgame.''

Dempster will honor moms serving in the military and those waiting at home by providing 50 tickets to their families on Mother's Day.

''They're serving or their husbands are. It's a lonely time for them,'' he said. ''We've always done it for Father's Day. I think Mother's Day is as important.''

Dempster and his wife, Jenny, established their ticket program for low-income children three years ago, with this event part of it.

Pitcher Ted Lilly and his wife, Natasha, have started a similar program, hosting 50 from the New Foundation of Hope on Saturday.

Eight Cubs players will take part in the Mother's Day fund-raising work for breast-cancer research by using pink bats: Henry Blanco, Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, Felix Pie, Geovany Soto, Ryan Theriot and Daryle Ward. Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano also might take part.

Class AAA Iowa center fielder Andres Torres extended his hitting streak to 24 games, going 1-for-3 on Friday. The team record is 33 games.

Wrigley Field organist Gary Pressey will play in Peoria on May 25 for the Chiefs' game against Wisconsin.