Quade lets Dempster close in on goal
Cubs manager Mike Quade did all he could to get Ryan Dempster a win Tuesday night.
Quade stuck with Dempster long enough for Dempster to run up his pitch count to its highest number in a decade.
In the end, it didn't matter because Cubs hitters did almost nothing with Cincinnati Reds starter Mike Leake, who was the one to come away with the victory as the Reds beat the Cubs 2-1 at the Great American Ball Park.
Dempster wound up throwing 128 pitches, his highest total since he threw 129 on May 26, 2001 against the Mets as a member of the Florida Marlins. Tuesday's pitch count included 24 in the seventh inning, when Quade sent him out to start the inning having already tossed 104.
“That was fun,” Dempster told reporters. “It just (stinks) to end up on the losing end.”
Dempster issued 2 of his 6 walks in the seventh, including his third to the dangerous Joey Votto, before getting Jay Bruce to end the inning and his night.
“It was nice that he left me in,” Dempster said of Quade. “We talked about it (before he batted in the top of the inning), and he said, ‘Just go up there and get your swings and go get outs.' I'm happy that I'm going to get to pitch one (extra) time.”
Quade sounded a respectful tone toward Dempster to reporters.
“He's smart enough to pitch around guys,” the manager said. “You know he's not going to let Votto beat him. He got through it. More times than not, he's just being careful with guys.”
Dempster (10-12, 4.66 ERA) has not won since beating the Nationals on Aug. 11. Since then, Dempster has gone 0-4 with 2 no-decisions. It's not as if Dempster has thrown poorly. He has 5 quality starts in that span.
In addition to seeking a victory, Dempster also is shooting for at least 200 innings pitched in a season for a fourth straight year. His 7 innings Tuesday put him at 183⅔ for the season, and it's possible he could get 3 more starts.
For the second time in a week, Cubs hitters couldn't do much with Leake. While Dempster was throwing his 128 pitches over 7 innings, Leake threw only 91 in 8. Unlike last week, when Bryan LaHair hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning, Leake got rewarded with a victory.
“Leake's been tough on us,” Quade said. “He can pitch, no question about it.”
Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was 0-for-3 with a walk as his career-best hitting streak ended at 13 games. However, the walk enabled Castro to extend his on-base streak to 26 games.
Quade also started LaHair, who was 1-for-4, a single. He has a hit in each of the eight games he's played since the Cubs called him up from Class AAA Iowa.