Hmmmm, not a good day to have a bad inning
Why does Ryan Dempster look so stressed? He’s probably upset about giving up a fourth-inning grand slam to Houston’s Hunter Pence. Or that he walked two batters leading up to the grand salami. Or that his potent offense disappeared in a park made for an explosive offense. Regardless, he’s upset after a 4-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday night.
Outside of the four-run inning, Dempster was solid and finished the evening giving up the four runs in six innings and striking out five. One less run and Dempster would’ve had a quality start … and still lost.
For the first time in a while, the offense was no help. Derreck Lee and Aramis Ramirez did their part, going a combined 5-for-8, but the rest of the team failed to show up. Alfonso Soriano earned himself a golden sombrero after striking out three times and is 0-for-8 on the road trip. Alongside Ryan Theriot’s 0-for-4 day, Lee’s three hits were made no difference. Kosuke Fukudome also went 0-for-4 and Jim Edmonds, who was supposed to be an upgrade in centerfield both offensively and defensively, also failed to get a hit.
All of the Cubs’ offense came from one swing of the bat by Ramirez. His fourth-inning home run gave Chicago a 2-0 lead before Dempster blew up in the bottom half of the inning.
During the Cubs’ homestand they never scored less than three runs. The last time that happened was on May 7 when they were shut out by Cincinnati. So an off day was bound to happen. But that probably won’t make Dempster’s headache go away.
