Dempster's only concern: being ready every fifth day

MIAMI - Cy Dempster?

It's a tough field in the National League this year for the Cy Young Award, especially with Arizona's Brandon Webb sitting there at 18-4.

While Carlos Zambrano gets all the attention as the Cubs' nominee, Ryan Dempster is having the better season, with a 14-5 record and a 2.92 ERA. Dempster is 1 victory shy of his career high, set in 2001 with the Florida Marlins.

His peripheral stats also are the best in most categories among Cubs starters.

"There's a lot more guys ahead of me in that," Dempster said of the Cy Young race. "I just worry about making my starts. I figure that if every fifth day I'm ready to pitch, at the end of the year those things play themselves out."

"Pretty impressive" is how manager Lou Piniella described Dempster.

Ramirez returns: Aramis Ramirez returned to the Cubs' lineup Sunday after missing 2 starts with a bruised left hip, suffered last week in Atlanta, where he slid awkwardly into home plate.

"No more headfirst slides," Ramirez said.

Cubs brass has been talking about Ramirez winning the Gold Glove at third base. Ramirez has 10 errors, and heading into Sunday's action, he was eighth in the NL in fielding percentage at .960. His total chances of 247 put him in the middle of the pack.

"I've had some good years, but this year I've kind of stood out a little bit more," Ramirez said. "Maybe because we're in the race and people are paying a little more attention, I don't know. I've played good defense this year."

Whatever the case, Ramirez has steadily improved his defense since coming to the Cubs in 2003, when he was considered a liability.

"I work a lot," he said. "I made a lot of mistakes when I was young. I came up to the league and made a lot of errors that I didn't need to be making.

"I've got the ability to play good defense. I didn't take advantage early in my career. But now, I'm more mature. I used to make a lot of throwing errors, a lot of stupid errors."

Honor for Brenly: Catcher Michael Brenly, son of Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly, is off to an impressive start at Class A Boise. Brenly, a 36th-round draft choice this year, will join third baseman Josh Vitters and pitcher Andrew Cashner as members of the Boise club invited to take part in the instructional league this fall.

Cashner was a first-round pick this year, and Vitters was the Cubs' top selection last year. Vitters extended his hitting streak to 22 games Saturday. He is 37-for-99 (. 374) during the streak with 11 doubles, 2 homers and 11 RBI.