Wood, Dempster, Soriano all come through for Cubs

So many new beginnings for the Cubs on Thursday.

For starters, they posted their first victory of the season, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 to salvage the finale of a three-game series.

Speaking of starters, pitcher Ryan Dempster returned to the rotation for the first time since 2005 and earned his first victory as a starter since April 16 of that year.

Dempster went on to be the Cubs' closer, saving games for starters such as Kerry Wood. In a nice reversal of roles, Wood earned his first career save Thursday with a scoreless ninth.

And it wouldn't be a day of new beginnings without mentioning left fielder Alfonso Soriano going back to the leadoff spot, picking up his first hit of the season, driving in 2 and stealing a base.

The guy wearing the biggest smile was Dempster, who worked all winter to prepare as a starter and then waited out manager Lou Piniella's decision to reward him with the No. 3 slot at the end of spring training.

"I felt good," said Dempster, who threw 60 of his 91 pitches for strikes over 6 innings. "I felt prepared going into today, both physically and mentally and had a good game plan and was able to stick to it and get some outs, get some quick outs and throw strikes and keep the ball down."

The only bad inning for Dempster was an eventful first. He walked Rickie Weeks to start the game and gave up a double to Tony Gwynn.

Prince Fielder flied to medium-deep right. Kosuke Fukudome uncorked a strong throw to the plate, but Weeks crashed into catcher Geovany Soto, who had no chance to make the catch and tag. The ball got away, allowing both baserunners to score.

"It's part of the game," Soto said. "You've got to expect everything in the game. He's trying to score a run, and I'm trying to get the ball and tag him out … I don't think it was a bad play. I was up the line."

Dempster settled down, throwing six of seven pitches for strikes in the second inning and finishing with 10-for-11 strikes in his final inning.

"He threw the ball just like he did his last time out in Las Vegas," Piniella said of last weekend's final tune-up. "It was really coming out of his hand well, and throwing strikes. … Perfect."

The Cubs tied it in the second with a leadoff walk by Aramis Ramirez and a double by Fukudome setting up an RBI single by Mark DeRosa and a sacrifice fly by Soto. A run-scoring walk by Soriano put the Cubs ahead in the fourth.

Ramirez homered in the fifth for his first hit of the season. The Cubs got 2 in the sixth, with Soriano singling 1 home and No. 2 hitter Ryan Theriot driving home Soriano.

"I feel very comfortable batting leadoff," Soriano said. "That's not the key. We played yesterday, and we played today, and I feel more comfortable at home plate."

Carlos Marmol turned in 2 innings of setup work and turned the game over to Wood. After getting two quick outs, Wood gave up a single to Craig Counsell before getting Jason Kendall looking at a high-strike fastball.

"It doesn't mean anything; it's a good win for us," said Wood, who gave up 3 runs Monday. "We needed to get a 'W' under our belts. Dempster threw the ball great. It's good to get the first one out of the way. It's been a long road. I had a good spring, but spring doesn't matter. When the season starts, you've got to go out and get wins."

Dempster enjoyed the role reversal with Wood, but only to a degree.

"I was nervous," he said. "I couldn't watch. No, it was great. As I remember, the toughest thing is waiting to get back out there. The nicest thing is getting right back out there to be able to do the job. For Woody to bounce back like that -- he was dominating for us -- and seal the win for us, it's important to him and important to us as a team to get a win under our belts."

Cubs 6, Brewers 3

At the plate: Aramis Ramirez hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth. Kosuke Fukudome (.667 OBP) walked twice and doubled. Alfonso Soriano, back in the leadoff spot, walked to force in a run and picked up his first hit of the year, a run-scoring single in the sixth. He also stole a base.

On the mound: Ryan Dempster turned in the Cubs' second "quality start" in three games. He went 6 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned). Carlos Marmol held the Brewers at Bay for 2 innings, giving up a run. Kerry Wood hit the upper 90s (mph) on his fastball in the ninth, earning his first career save.

-- Bruce Miles