Dempster shuts down Astros in Cubs' 9-0 win

[July 21, 2008]  HOUSTON (AP) -- Ryan Dempster struck out seven in eight shutout innings to earn his first road win in two years and the Chicago Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak with a 9-0 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Mike Fontenot hit a solo homer and a two-run double and Derrek Lee had three RBIs to help Chicago shake out a mini-offensive slump that bridged the All-Star break.

Dempster (11-4) allowed six hits, all singles, and got his first road win since June 2, 2006, at St. Louis. He's 10-1 in 12 starts at Wrigley Field this season, but was 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA in eight starts away from home before Sunday.

The Astros had their four-game winning streak snapped.

The Cubs scored only four runs in their previous three games and came into the game with a .210 batting average over that span. They had only one hit in their last 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position before getting two runs in the first inning Sunday against Houston starter Brandon Backe (6-10).

Kosuke Fukudome, in a 10-for-62 slump coming into the game, doubled to left with one out and scored on Lee's double to right-center. Jim Edmonds scored Lee with a single to center.

Dempster allowed only singles by Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman in the first four innings.

Backe threw three perfect innings after the shaky first, but Fontenot homered down the right-field line with one out in the fifth to put the Cubs up 3-0. The second baseman has eight homers this season and six in his last 19 games.

Dempster only faced real trouble once, when the Astros loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth.

Miguel Tejada and Geoff Blum opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Hunter Pence hit a high bouncer to Ryan Theriot and the shortstop threw late to second, loading the bases for J.R. Towles, a .144 hitter. Dempster struck him out on three pitches.

Dempster then struck out Backe looking and Backe yelled at home-plate umpire Bill Miller as he stomped back to the dugout. Kaz Matsui popped out to end the inning.

After Theriot added an RBI single in the seventh for the Cubs, Houston manager Cecil Cooper brought in Wesley Wright to relieve.

Dempster hit 100 pitches in the eighth, but still looked strong, striking out Matsui and Darin Erstad. He retired Berkman on a flyout to right.

Fontenot tacked on a two-run double in the ninth off Houston reliever Chris Sampson. The Astros bullpen had not allowed a run in 13 1-3 innings and Sampson had not given up a run in his last six appearances.

Fontenot scored on Theriot's broken-bat single to make it 7-0. Lee added a two-run single later in the inning off Chad Paronto, giving the Cubs their highest run total since a 9-2 win over San Francisco on June 30.

Notes: Berkman is 4-for-27 (.148) against the Cubs this season. ... Mark DeRosa made a diving catch on Matsui's sinking liner in the first inning. ... The Cubs have recorded a double in 18 consecutive games for the second time this season. ... Theriot singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

[Associated Press; By CHRIS DUNCAN]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.