HOUSTON -- A.J. Pierzynski's three-run homer Saturday off Ryan Dempster was
still haunting his mind when he sought a much-needed save Wednesday night
against the Astros.
A leadoff walk on four pitches to Orlando Palmeiro to begin the ninth sent
fears racing through the Cubs' hearts. After Dempster struck out Mike Lamb,
Craig Biggio singled pinch runner Willy Taveras to third with one out. But
Dempster got Chris Burke to pop out and Morgan Ensberg to ground out.
The Cubs' 1-0 victory might not be a job saver in itself for manager Dusty
Baker, but it was a welcome change of pace.
CUBS
1
ASTROS
0
"I was nervous out there, considering the last time I was on the field
how big that was when it all went down,'' Dempster said. "I'm not going to
lie. I was scared of what might come crashing down if I blew that one. Those are
the kind of things that give you confidence and get you right back in it.''
Do the players feel they must win for Baker?
"We just have to keep winning,'' Dempster said. "We know we haven't
been playing good baseball at times. Our approach is to not let the outside
stuff bother us and go about what we can control.''
Rookie Sean Marshall delivered to go 5-7. Even after Craig Biggio led off the
seventh with a double and was advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, he didn't
let it unravel.
Marshall got Ensberg to ground out to shortstop with the infield drawn in,
and Lance Berkman bounced out to second. Marshall departed after pitching seven
scoreless innings and holding the Astros to six hits, three walks.
Michael Barrett scored the game's only run in the fifth. Todd Walker's double
brought him home. Walker might have scored as well when Neifi Perez singled to
center. Instead, he stopped at third.
"We thought he was going to score,'' Baker said. "Walk got a bad
read.''
Barrett doubled to start the ninth. When Walker grounded sharply to first
baseman Berkman, who dived to catch the ball, Barrett took off for third.
Berkman easily threw him out.
"Michael stopped and hesitated,'' Baker said. "If he'd kept going
he wouldn't even have thrown the ball. But we won. This was good for everybody's
psyche.''
