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Dempster, Lee help Cubs top Dodgers

May 26, 2008 - 10:54 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Ryan Dempster pitched seven solid innings and Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez each homered as the Chicago Cubs posted a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

Dempster (6-2) worked out of trouble for most of his outing but allowed only one run and seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Los Angeles had the leadoff hitter on base five times but went just 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position. For the game, the Dodgers left 12 men on base, including eight on second or third base.

"We had a lot of opportunities," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "The whole game was frustrating for us because we hit a number of balls hard, but they didn't fall in. We had men on base all over the place."

Chicago took an early lead in the bottom of the first when Lee blasted a two-run shot to left off Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley (4-6).

"Overall, I pitched pretty well today," said Billingsley, who allowed two runs over six innings. "The ball to Derrek wasn't where I wanted to throw it, but he got it up in the wind and it went out."

The Dodgers were able to halve the deficit in the fifth when Juan Pierre reached on an infield single to second, scoring Matt Kemp from third.

But that was the only run the Dodgers scored despite numerous opportunities.

Los Angeles threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with one out on two singles and a walk.

But Dempster would escape the jam, striking out Blake DeWitt, who was previously 6-for-6 with the bases loaded in his career, and got Luis Maza to fly out to right to end the inning.

The Cubs had lost back-to-back extra-inning contests to Pittsburgh over the weekend and Dempster knew how important it was to go seven innings. He threw 117 pitches.

"I knew the bullpen definitely needed some rest, but my mindset is to go into the eighth or ninth inning every time out," Dempster said. "Today I just ran out of pitches. My pitch count got too high and I had to come out."

"The win today is definitely a testament to (Dempster)," Lee said. "He really pitched a gutty game. You could see him laboring at times. But you knew he wasn't going to give in. This was a big win for us, considering the way we lost the last two."

Los Angeles loaded the bases again, this time in the eighth with one out, but again could not score.

Chicago reliever Bob Howry struck out pinch hitter James Loney and got Delwyn Young to fly out to center, ending the inning.

"We were in position to tie the game and in the eighth inning, we were in a position to win it," Torre said. "But it just didn't happen."

Ramirez hit a solo blast to left-center in the bottom half of the eighth to give the Cubs an insurance run and Kerry Wood worked around a one-out single to secure his 11th save.

With the win, Chicago improved to 20-8 at Wrigley Field this season.

"We should play well at home," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "If we can just play like this in Chicago all year and play .500 or a little above on the road, we'll be all right."