Ryan Dempster was dominant all night long.  Although he has pitched pretty well, this was his first win since April 23.  Derrek Lee gave him some run support, driving in 3 runs with a double and a home run, but it was Dempster’s gem that carried the day.  He went eight innings of nearly unhittable baseball.  On just 104 pitches, he gave up only three hits and one walk.  He had 7 strikeouts, 7 groundouts and 10 flyballs.  His ERA sunk to 3.31 and he solidified his role as ace of the staff.

The Cubs have had over 100 years of futility ranging from being the worst in the league to coming up just short of winning it all.  While most felt that this year was going to be a tough one for the Cubs, no one predicted they would struggle as much as they did in April.  May has been a new month for the team, though, and they sit just 4 games out of first place in the NL Central.  If Dempster can continue to pitch like he has and Derrek Lee’s bat can come alive, they might just have a chance.  For now, Ryan Dempster will have to be satisfied with “The Stat Line of the Night”.

Lee had four at bats, and made the most out of two of those.  In the first inning he stepped to the plate with two on and took Seth McClung yard and later in the fourth inning it was Chris Smith’s turn to get taken deep by Lee, this time with the bases loaded.  In the end, Lee went 2 for 4 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs, leading his Cubs to the 9-5 win and earning himself “The Stat Line Of The Night” for Thursday, July 2nd, 2009.

The Brewers and Cubs will continue their four-game set today in Chicago and only 2.5 games back of top spot in the division, it is very likely that there could be another team sitting atop the NL Central by Sunday night.