Ryan Dempster Dominates, Cubs Beat Brewers

For all the crap I give Ryan Dempster (could be another "I was wrong" coming) he was really good tonight. He had his best start of the season allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out four over eight solid innings. It earned Ryan his 10th win of the season in a 2-0 Cubs win.

The offense was just about as bad as could be expected, but a Derrek Lee homer in the fourth and a Kosuke Fukudome sac fly in the eighth provided Dempster with all the support he needed tonight. Still there is some things we learn for next year from games like this. For example Ryan Theriot should be a backup, he did take a walk tonight but was 0-2 and is now hitting .179 this month. He doesn't have the stamina to play a full major league season. Also be sure to pay attention the the situations with Fukudome and Jeff Baker, who both are experiencing some tough times themselves.

A guy who didn't have a tough day was closer Carlos Marmol. Lou named him the 2010 closer and he was able to notch his 13th save despite not having control of his fastball. Bottom line is Marmol continues to get the job done and isn't serving up homers like Kevin Gregg was. That alone makes him the 2010 favorite, though I won't be upset if we go out and try to sign a free agent closer to set-up Marmol.

Even with the team safely out of playoff contention it's really fun to watch the Cubs win games, especially against the Brewers. Notching our third winning season in a row would be a tremendous accomplishment for the Cubs, even if expectations were higher.