Lincecum fans 9 as Cubs head to the break
On a scale of 1 to 10, Ryan Dempster's transition from closer to starter has been an 11.
Unfortunately for the all-star right-hander, he couldn't quite run his unbeaten Wrigley Field record to 11-0.
Dempster lost for the first time at home this year, falling to another all-star, Tim Lincecum, and the Giants 4-2 Sunday in front of 41,574.
More Coverage Stories Marmol replaces Wood on All-Star team Cubs at the head of the class
The former closer will have to "settle" for a 10-1 home record, while the Cubs "settle" for a 57-38 record in the first half and a 4-game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central.
"It was a good first half," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Now we enjoy the all-star break.
"Our guy pitched well too, but their guy pitched a little better. I thought the humidity might get to him, but to his credit he threw 8 real good innings of baseball. Obviously he is a good-looking pitcher and his record proves it."
Entering Sunday at 10-3 with a 3.13 ERA, Dempster certainly has exceeded expectations in his return to starting.
Lincecum, the Giants' fire-baller who just appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, has been even better, and he was again Sunday. Now 11-2, Lincecum added 9 strikeouts to his major league-leading total while lowering his ERA to 2.57.
And he has done all that without one big advantage his opponents have - getting to face the Giants' lineup.
"It's not just one pitch," Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez said of Lincecum's 98-mph heater. "If you sit on one, you have no chance on the other ones."
Trailing 4-1, the Cubs threatened in the eighth. Mike Fontenot, after fanning in his first 3 at-bats, singled, as did Derrek Lee to set the table for some possible Ramirez heroics.
Ramirez got a second chance when catcher Bengie Molina dropped his foul pop but then hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Cubs scored once in the ninth and put the tying runs on base against the Giants' other all-star, closer Brian Wilson, before he retired Daryle Ward and Ryan Theriot to end the game.
Lincecum threw 78 of 116 pitches for strikes. He allowed 1 walk, 6 hits and 1 run in 8 innings, and he also delivered an RBI triple that Mark DeRosa misplayed in right field to spark the Giants' 3-run third inning.
"He's not going to give up a lot of runs, and unfortunately I put up a crooked number," Dempster said.
He now also has a crooked number in the loss column at Wrigley.
"I definitely wanted to keep that one going," Dempster said. "It was a tough one, tough matchup. It's tough to sit there and feel good about your first half when you just lost a game."
Maybe Dempster could learn from his manager, who seemed in pretty good spirits despite the loss and wins from the two teams behind the Cubs - CC Sabathia and the Brewers, and the Cardinals.
Piniella left the media laughing when he ended his postgame interview saying he is going to be a "leisure coach" over the All-Star break.
"Look, Dempster has had a good first half, 10-4," Piniella said. "We'll take another 9-3 the rest of the way and everybody will be very happy."