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Dempster, Cubs make it three straight over Brewers

Jul 31, 2008 - 5:33 AM By David Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs' domination of the Milwaukee Brewers continues.

Dempster struck out nine in seven innings and Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Theriot sparked the offense as the Cubs beat the Brewers for the third straight game, 7-2, on Wednesday at Miller Park.

Dempster (12-4) improved to 7-2 in his career and 3-0 this season against the Brewers, who lost for the fifth time in six games and fell four games behind the front-running Cubs, winners of four straight, in the National League Central Division.

"We hadn't been playing real well for a while and I think guys were frustrated, but at the same time we've got a lot of guys with experience that know that you're going to hit those lows during the season, just as you're going to hit those extreme highs," Dempster said. "We just wanted to come up here and play good baseball and hopefully get good results. We've gotten those the first three games."

Soriano and Theriot, the first two hitters in their lineup, were a combined 6-for-7 with four walks, three runs and three RBIs.

"We got some big situational hits," Theriot said. "We've been hitting with two strikes and two outs well. It comes in spurts and when you're getting those hits, you've got to take advantage of it."

Theriot broke the game open with a two-run triple during a three-run sixth inning.

Brewers starter Manny Parra (9-4), who legged out a triple with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, struck out Henry Blanco before allowing back-to-back singles by Dempster and Alfonso Soriano. Theriot tripled to chase the 25-year-old lefthander from the contest with the Cubs ahead, 4-1.

"The big (play) was the triple that he hit," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "That really got us going."

Two batters later, Reed Johnson drove in Theriot with a single up the middle off reliever Carlos Villanueva.

With one out and runners on first and third in the top of the first inning, Parra struck out both Aramis Ramirez and Johnson, but Johnson's swinging strike three was a wild pitch that went through catcher Jason Kendall's legs, allowing Johnson to reach first and Soriano to score from third.

"That was a real tough pitch to block," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "You don't see it getting away from Jason Kendall very often, but that one did."

Mark DeRosa followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

"We got two runs in an inning where we probably shouldn't have gotten anything," Piniella said. "That was a break that went our way."

The only run Dempster allowed came on a wild pitch with Ray Durham on third base in the first inning. He walked just one, allowed five hits and held the Brewers hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position.

"They've got a lot of good hitters," Dempster said. "I just tried to attack as much as possible and was happy that I was able to stick to my game plan today even in situations when there were runners in scoring position or guys on base. The results were good."

Parra, whose loss in his start Friday against the Houston Astros snapped an eight-game winning streak, allowed eight hits, all of them singles until Theriot's triple. He allowed five runs, struck out four and walked four.

"I feel like I made some good pitches and they hit them, and I made some bad ones and they capitalized on those too, especially Theriot in that last inning," Parra said.