Cubs 11, Giants 4
Ryan Dempster continued his string of strong starts with 11 strikeouts in six innings as the Chicago Cubs ended the San Francisco Giants‘ six-game winning streak with an 11-4 triumph on Friday at Wrigley Field.
Reed Johnson tripled and drove in four and Darwin Barney added three RBIs for the Cubs.
Dempster (2-4) yielded two runs and six hits to earn his first win since April 11. The veteran righthander had his ERA shoot up to 9.58 after allowing seven runs while recording one out on April 28. In the three starts since, Dempster has posted a 2.25 ERA while striking out 20 in 20 innings.
Chicago grabbed the lead in the second, pushing three runs across against Madison Bumgarner on a sacrifice bunt and a pair of RBI singles.
The Cubs broke it open in the seventh against the San Francisco bullpen. Jeremy Affeldt yielded Barney’s RBI double and left the bases loaded for Guillermo Mota, who surrendered an RBI single to Jeff Baker before Johnson’s three-run triple broke it open.
Bumgarner (0-6) failed to notch his first win of the season despite turning in his fourth consecutive quality start.