News
Cubs go quietly vs. White Sox rookie
Dempster's steady start wasted by anemic offense, poor 'D'
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
09/03/09 6:30 PM ET
CHICAGO -- This was a makeup game the Cubs and Alfonso Soriano would've preferred to skip.Carlos Torres threw seven shutout innings and the White Sox took advantage of two costly errors to post a 5-0 victory Thursday over the Cubs and secure bragging rights in the intracity Interleague series, 4-2.
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"I hate losing, we hate losing, and it's not a lot of fun," said Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster, who took the loss. "It seems like every time we take a couple steps forward, we can't keep it going. We have a month left to play as hard as we can and go out there and make the most of it."
Dempster (8-8) struck out seven in his seven-plus innings, getting charged with three runs -- but none were earned. It was another wasted quality start.
"He pitched very well," Lou Piniella said. "He really shouldn't have given any runs up."
Problems started in the White Sox second. Alexei Ramirez hit an RBI single to drive in Chris Getz, who had moved to second on an error by first baseman Jake Fox, who couldn't get his glove on a pickoff throw. The rookie was subbing for Derrek Lee, whose wife gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, early Thursday.
"I missed it," Fox said. "I didn't see [the ball] coming out of his hand, with the people and the sun back there. I didn't see it the whole way out of his hand. As a matter of fact, it almost hit me. It's a play that has to be made."
Fox did double to lead off the Cubs' seventh and one out later, tried to score on Jeff Baker's single. But right fielder Dewayne Wise threw him out at home, the throw beating Fox by a few steps.
Fox didn't hear the boos the way Soriano did in the White Sox eighth. With a runner at first, A.J. Pierzynski lofted the ball to left. Soriano, bothered by a sore left knee, slipped trying to catch the ball, and it dropped. A run scored and Pierzynski was safe at third on the error. Paul Konerko followed with an RBI single to chase Dempster, who took his frustration out by kicking the water fountain in the dugout.
"I slipped, and when I slipped I lost my balance," Soriano said. "I don't make an excuse, but that's the first time it happened -- that I slipped and missed the ball."
"The last time I checked, we didn't score any runs," Aramis Ramirez said, "so even if [Soriano] makes that play, we lose, 1-0. Nobody wants to make a mistake on the field. 'Sori' doesn't want to make mistakes. Nobody wants to be embarrassed like that. We have to pick it up, that's the bottom line."
Piniella thought Soriano overran the ball, but the outfielder said he didn't and that his knee wasn't a factor. When he struck out on three pitches to end the game, the crowd became nasty toward Soriano again.
"It doesn't bother me," Soriano said. "It's part of the game. If I get a hit, they want to clap. If I get a strikeout, they want to boo. They are frustrated like we are now, because we're not playing like we're supposed to play."
Torres (1-0) struck out seven over seven innings, limiting the Cubs to five runs.
"'Demp' goes out there and does a great job, and we can't get any runs for him," Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said. "It seems like kind of a recurring theme and trust me, the offense, we're trying like heck and trying to get some runs across the board, and it's just not working out right now."
Dempster didn't blame Soriano or anyone else.
"We're 25 guys," he said. "You go through frustrations throughout the course of the season, throughout the course of the game. At the end of the day, you realize everyone out there is competing as hard as they can and guys are going to make mistakes.
"Errors are going to happen, strikeouts are going to happen, pitchers are going to walk guys. That's all part of the game. You have to overcome those situations and be a little bit better next time."
The Cubs have a lot to overcome if they want to play past Oct. 4. They finished the homestand 5-5, and the only good news of the day, besides Lee's baby boy, is that St. Louis and Colorado also lost. The Cubs didn't lose any ground in the standings.
"I don't use the word 'disappointment,'" Piniella said about the season. "We expected better, and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't."
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
