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 Lee hit a two-run drive in the first inning off Chad Billingsley (4-6) for his 250th home run, and Ramirez added a solo homer against Scott Proctor in the eighth.
Dempster (6-2) gave the bullpen some rest after the Cubs combined to use 11 relievers in consecutive extra-inning losses at Pittsburgh. He allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings before Bob Howry and Kerry Wood finished.
Dempster gave up a run-scoring infield single to Juan Pierre in the fifth, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, striking out Blake DeWitt on a check swing before retiring Luis Maza on a flyout.
Los Angeles loaded the bases against Howry in the eighth when Jeff Kent singled, Matt Kemp doubled with one out and Blake DeWitt was intentionally walked.
Pinch-hitter James Loney just missed a grand slam when he lined a foul down the right-field line, then struck out. Delwyn Young hit an inning-ending flyout.
Andre Ethier singled with out in the ninth, but Wood struck out Russell Martin and Chin-Iung Hu for his 11th save in 15 chances. Los Angeles stranded 12 runners.
Billingsley, 4-1 in his previous five starts, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked two.
Alfonso Soriano had an uneventful day following a weekend in which he was picked off second base in the ninth inning of a 5-4, 14-inning loss, then dropped a fly ball for a double in the ninth inning the following day as Chicago fell 6-5 in 11.
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Bothered by leg problems the past two seasons, Soriano couldn't make it past second on Ryan Theriot's single to right in the sixth inning Sunday and stopped at third on Ramirez's hit to right with one out.
That loaded the bases for Kosuke Fukudome, who sent a hard bouncer to the mound that Billingsley speared before throwing home to start an inning-ending double play.
Notes: Cubs manager Lou Piniella won't consider removing Soriano for a defensive replacement, even though he's made several costly miscues in the late innings. "The ball was right in the sun," Piniella said before Monday's game. "Let's just leave it at that and go forward."... The Cubs are the only major league team that has not lost more than two in a row. ... The Cubs observed a moment of silence before the game for former pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who was killed by a lightning strike in his native Venezuela on Sunday. He won 11 games for Chicago in 1997.
[Associated Press; By ANDREW SELIGMAN]
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