San Francisco Giants Hand Ryan Dempster First Home Loss

The Giants handed Ryan Dempster his first home loss with 4-2 victory Sunday in Chicago.

Dempster pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three. With the loss, Dempster fell to 10-4 on the season.

The Giants got on the board first in the top of the third when Tim Lincecum hit his first career triple that drove in Omar Vizquel. They added two more runs on a Ray Durham single that drove in both Fred Lewis and Lincecum to give them a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs scored one run in the next inning when Jim Edmonds doubled to drive in Mark Derosa. 

With the Giants leading 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, they were able to add an insurance run on a triple by Lewis that gave them a little bit more breathing room. 

In the top of the ninth, the Cubs managed to put up another run on a Geovany Soto single that drove in Edmonds to put them within two at 4-2, but Reed Johnson was left stranded at third and Brian Wilson shut door to pick up his 25th save of the season. 

Lincecum, who started for the Giants, pitched eight solid innings allowing just one earned run on six hits while striking out nine and walking only one. With the win, he improves to 11-2 on the season. 

The Cubs finish the first half of the season with a 57-38 record and an astonishing 37-12 home record—but a 20-26 road record, something they will have to work on in the second half. In the National League Central the hold a 4 1/2 game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers and a five game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Next up, some of the Cubs players will participate in the All-Star game on Tuesday—chosen to participate are Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, and Alfonso Soriano, who has been replaced. Carlos Marmol has also just been announced as a replacement for Kerry Wood. 

After the All-Star break, the Cubs will start off the second half as they travel to Houston to take on the Astros for three games starting on Friday July 18th.